Hang the Moon
by essie the fangirl
Summary: Sirius Black and Danilynn Masters have old everything. Old blood, old names, old traditions, and even older money. A girl from the light and a boy from the dark shouldn't have much in common, but they seem set on throwing their families old feud to the wind. It's time that someone breathed life back into the old and where better to start than with a few teenagers?
1. A Different Kind of Danger

**Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize is JKR's and everything else is mine (except for a couple of the names i stole from Game of Thrones hehe)**

 **Hi guys! So this is a companion to _Feel Again_ but because it takes place earlier it also can stand alone. This and _Feel Again_ are simultaneously in the works depending on if I'm feeling like writing teenagers or adults.**

 **Pick one, pick both, but either way I hope you like it as much as I like writing it!**

 **Read, Review, and Enjoy,**

 **Stars.**

* * *

It's a different kind of danger  
And the bells are ringing out  
And I'm calling for my mother  
As I pull the pillars down  
It's a different kind of danger  
And my feet are spinning around  
Never knew I was a dancer  
'till Delilah showed me how

~ _Delilah_ , Florence + The Machine

* * *

Danilynn Masters loved hiding her identity. Her brother disapproved that she turned her hair brown every morning before she got out of bed, but she didn't care. She was so diligent that none of her friends had ever seen her with her natural hair color; sure, her face and hair were in the papers during summer, but everyone who saw her at school was starting to wonder if the pictures were altered and she wasn't a _true_ Masters, after all. Not once had anyone seen her true color in person because every morning she would tap her head with her wand, mutter a spell, wait a moment for it to settle into a dark brown, and get out of bed.

The truth of it, she thought as she got ready next to Lily, was that she was tired of standing out. She wanted to at least pretend to be normal and not have her hair acting like a beacon saying, "Please look at me". She had managed it for about two and a half years now; half way through their Third Year and she had kept up the charade flawlessly since day one. Lily smiled at her as she put on her shoes.

"Dan, did you hear Professor McGonagall say when the next Hogsmeade trip is? I have a real Butterbeer craving." Lily said to her best friend. Dany shrugged.

"I don't know if she said…hey Marles! You know when the next Hogsmeade trip is?" Dany called out another of their dorm mates. Marlene McKinnon poked her head out of the bathroom.

"Not sure…I don't really pay much attention though, so I'm probably not the best source…do you know, Al?" Marlene called back into the bathroom. There was an indistinct voice that sounded rather negative, "Al doesn't know either. Maybe the boys will know? If anyone would, it's them." Marlene suggested. Dany nodded and leaned up against her dresser.

"True. I don't remember a time Sirius and James have missed an opportunity to stock up on Zonko's jokes." Dany responded. Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste at the mention of James Potter and Sirius Black.

"Yeah, but Marley, that would require me to _talk_ to Potter or Black. I think I'd rather have a chronic condition." She snipped and Dany rolled her eyes at Alice Prewett (their fourth room mate) and Marlene as they all left their dorm. On their way down to the Great Hall, Dany felt her head start to itch. She idly scratched her head, nails digging into her scalp. By the time they sat down at the Gryffindor table, it felt like someone had put itching powder in her hair while she slept. She was seated between Marlene and James and they were discussing Hogsmeade (which was apparently the next weekend) when all of a sudden the itching stopped. Dany sighed in relief only to notice Lily, Remus, and Sirius were all staring at her from across the table, mouths slightly ajar.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Seriously, you guys my table manners aren't _that_ bad. No need to look like I've just solved the great mysteries of the universe." She said jokingly. James and Marlene stopped talking and Frank and Alice both looked up from next to James. Lily was the only one who could seemingly form words.

"Dan…your hair…it's not brown. It's…well, it's white." Lils said slowly to her best friend. Dany pulled part of her hair into her field of vision and sure enough, it was the silvery color that her brother's hair was, which was easily identifiable farther down the table where he was sitting with the other Sixth Years. Dany felt her stomach drop to her feet. What had happened? The spell _always_ worked. Slowly people began to take notice and someone elbowed Rae and gestured to his sister, who met his eyes frantically. He smiled sympathetically but couldn't say much from halfway down the table. Slowly, the other tables started to stare and soon even the teachers had taken notice. James looked around casually and slung an arm around her shoulders.

"Well we all know you're a real Masters now, Dan. There's been some talk, but there's no arguing with that hair, eh?" He chuckled and she smiled at him gratefully. James Potter was officially her favorite person. Some of the Gryffindors laughed too and Rae winked at her quickly as if to say, 'it'll be okay Little Sister'. Quickly people went back to their breakfasts but the conversation about Hogsmeade had been dropped. Lily smiled kindly at her.

"I think you look better this way, Dan. You're a pretty girl no matter your hair color but this looks more like you." She said thoughtfully. Dany smiled back at her thankful for the comment. Alice wrinkled her nose.

"I don't know why you'd want to be a boring brunette like me. It's not very much fun. Everyone and their second cousin is a brunette. You know your brother has some killer hair but I've gotta say, it looks pretty amazing that long." Alice commented as she ate her toast. Dany felt her heart warm. No one questioned why she had done it, they had all just moved on. She vaguely noticed that none of the guys had commented, despite that fact that Sirius, Remus, and Frank were all staring intently. James didn't care; they had grown up together and he had known the entire time, truth be told.

"You have something to say boys?" She asked them mildly. Frank and Sirius both looked down quickly, embarrassed to get caught staring she guessed. Remus on the other hand didn't look away and pretend that nothing happened.

"It really is exceptional, Dan. But you know we still love you for you, right?" He said gently. Dany started that the bluntness of the statement, but wasn't very surprised. Remus had a way of cutting down to the truth quicker than most people could imagine. He had called her reasons out almost immediately. Everyone looked up and nodded. The girls all grinned and said something along the lines of "we're sisters, remember?" James and the rest of the guys just smiled at her and like that they all went back to what they had been doing.

Dany never told anyone just how much that had meant to her. She never told anyone that she went back to the dorm that night and cried because she had finally found people that cared for her purely for her.

* * *

Lily Evans was in awe of her best friend. There had always been rumors, rumors that Dany Masters wasn't actually blood of the Minister; her hair was different and that _never_ happened, not with Masters blood. Lily had seen it happen. Dany had been itching her head like it was going out of style when all of a sudden, the roots of her brown hair turned blonde, so blonde it was silver. It spread down her long hair quickly until it reached the tips, leaving her with a crown of silver hair. Dany had no idea and she had looked so embarrassed when it had happened; she had looked down the table at her brother and he had looked sympathetic to her situation but very little could be done from fifteen feet away.

Marlene and Alice had gone to the bathroom and the boys wouldn't bother slowing up until thirty seconds before class actually started; so Lily and Dany were walking alone into the dungeons. Lily glanced at her companion and thought that it was striking how different she looked with her real hair color. She was a pretty girl but she looked different, otherworldly almost, with the silver hair signature to her family Lily thought to herself. Dany caught her looking and grinned.

"So I guess neither of us have exactly _normal_ hair, huh?" She said wryly. Lily laughed and tugged on her red hair.

"I guess not…we're quite the pair." Lily said as they entered the dungeons.

"We are indeed, Lils. We are indeed." Dany quietly replied as they pushed open the door to Slughorn's classroom. A couple of kids in the half-full class stared but they had all been at breakfast; they had all seen the charm give out. Professor Slughorn, on the other hand, had not been in the Great Hall this morning and his potions ingredients nearly fell to the floor as the two girls walked in.

"Miss. Evans…Miss. Masters may I asked what happened to your hair?" He asked, flustered by this sudden change in appearance.

"Just letting my hair be free, Professor. I assume that's not a problem?" Dany said lightly. Everyone knew the answer to her question; of course it wasn't a problem. Now that it was obvious that Masters blood was in her veins, Sluggy would try to "collect" her to add her to the shelf of the well known and powerful, as he had her brother, who had gone along with this (albeit begrudgingly and coaxed by their father).

Unlike her brother, Rhaegar needed as many contacts as he could get, Dany had the luxury of declining his "generous" offer. Rae would probably succeed their father as Minister (as the Masters always have), and as such needed as many friends in as many places as possible; Dany would not become Minister. She would enter the Ministry, or maybe even a curse-breaker for Gringotts, but her place would be by her brother's side, or in another department of the Ministry. She would not lead their people and so she was allowed to occasionally offend people. Lily smiled into her hand as Slughorn looked even more flustered.

"No, no problem. I was just…intrigued by the sudden change. I must say, with two heads of that hair floating around, my head will be spinning." He said, trying to hide his rude exclamation. Dany smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to keep us straight. I _am_ a tad bit shorter, in case you've never noticed." She said sweetly and gestured to herself. Lily had to hand it to her; she was _very_ short, especially compared to her brother who, at sixteen, was already over 6 feet tall. Lily had passed her up in height earlier this year and Marlene had done so over a year ago. Alice was the only one who was still shorter than her, but Lily supposed that was only a matter of time, too. Slughorn, for his part, had the decency to look embarrassed by this entire conversation and said no more.

Lily and Dany took their seats and soon Marlene and Alice joined them at their table. The boys were situated behind them; actually it was just Potter and Sirius because Frank and Peter were at another table where Remus could coach them through the class. Sirius and Potter shared the table with two Ravenclaw boys, Thomas and Josh, who were both rather good at potions, leaving the entire table plenty of time to talk. Lily found herself chatting with Dany, whose hair she found less distracting with each minute, about the Yule Ball.

"I wish I could go, honestly this entire thing about having to be a Fourth Year is just absurd." Lily complained. Dany nodded.

"I know…hmm, maybe I could ask Rae to get us in. We can go as long as we're someone's date, you know." Dany said thoughtfully. Lily seemed quite excited by this prospect.

"Oh, I didn't know that! Do you think he would mind?" Lily asked carefully. As much as she liked Dany's older brother, he kind of scared her sometimes; Lily thought it was his height and the fact he was slated to be the most powerful wizard in England by the time he was 30. Dany shrugged.

"I don't think so…I mean from what I hear, the Yule Ball isn't all its talked up to be anyways; if you want a _real_ party, you should spend part of Christmas with me and mine." She told the redhead with a wink. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Are you being serious?"

"Course I am. You're more than welcome anytime, Lils; you know that." Dany responded simply, "I can write Mom and Dad, see if they'd be cool with that. They probably will be. I can't remember the last time Rae spent an entire holiday just with the family. I mean, I'm sure that you want to spend Christmas with your folks, but we have a wicked New Years party. Your parents can come too, if they want." Lily nodded and Sirius and Potter turned around.

"Oi, Masters, did I hear word of the legendary Masters New Years party?" Potter asked, turning around in his chair. Dany rolled her eyes,

"Yes, James. And you'll be invited with your parents. Just like you always are. Every year." Lily snorted and even Sirius chuckled. Dany moved her eyes to Sirius and Lily saw something flicker in them; compassion, she thought. It was gone quick though and she casually said, "You spending anytime at the Potters, Sirius? I'd be surprised if anyone can tear you two lovebirds apart." She slipped the joke in but Lily knew it was a legitimate question. She knew that Dany had encountered the Black clan before and was less than impressed; she worried for him, they all did, and hearing that he would be spending his time under the Potter's roof would be a relief. Unfortunately luck was not on their side.

"I wish. My parents are making me stay home all break for some unexplainable reason. It's a damn shame too; even a night out of that house would keep me sane." James exchanged a dark look with Dany. Lily decided that she'd rather never meet the Blacks. Ever. He said with a frown.

"Oh, that's too bad. I don't know how James will manage without you." She said softly. James whacked his Godsister over her head.

"Hey! I can function very much on my own, Danilynn; thank you very much." He huffed. And like that, the tension broke and they all resumed their potions. Dany glanced at Sirius and Lily thought to herself that that boy better be damn grateful for her; even if he didn't know it, she had purposely baited James to stop things from getting too moody.

Potions finished relatively uneventfully (Peter only scalded his hands once) and the group was off to Transfiguration. On their way there, they ran into Rhaegar. He said hello to his sister and waved to her friends, but before he could get much farther, Dany dragged him away from his friends, out of hearing range of all of them. The Sixth Years and Third Years exchanged awkward glances and stood there waiting for the siblings to finish their conversation. Rhaegar appeared not to like what he was hearing and was shaking his head. Dany grabbed his arm and said something softly, apparently pleading. Lily was reading her lips and saw the word "please" on at least five different occasions. Rhaegar appeared not to be convinced and seemed like he was going to tell his sister off but his eyes suddenly narrowed and he looked at her face closer. He apparently didn't like what he saw and when Dany met her brother's eyes, he finally nodded. She smiled at him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, resting his chin on her head, not caring that she was totally killing his image right now. Lily clearly saw him say, "You're welcome" as she continued to cling onto him for another moment longer. The siblings broke apart and Rhaegar kissed his sister on the forehead before leaving with his friends. He passed by the Third Years and looked at them closer than he ever had before. Lily could have sworn he was scrutinizing Sirius so hard that she thought Sirius might break into from the intensity of his stare.

That night, Lily went to turn the light off next to Dany's bed when she saw the letter that was finished but still drying. She saw her name and couldn't stop herself from reading the whole thing.

 _Daddy,_

 _I hope you and Mom are both okay and I hope that it hasn't been_ too _quiet without Rae and me there! It's getting colder here and even though it's been snowing for about two weeks, the temperature is still dropping daily. I was wondering if Lily and her parents could possibly come to the New Years Ball, she was very disappointed that we couldn't go to the Yule Ball so I thought that this would make up for it. I also have something else to ask, and I don't think you're going to like it very much at all._

 _Sirius' parents aren't letting him leave the house over break and you know just how bad the Blacks are. I'm worried for him and I was wondering if you would be willing to let them come as well. James is worried too, I can tell, and we'd both feel a lot better knowing that nothing horrible has happened to him. I talked to Rae today and he said he was okay with it, even though he only agreed when I told him the truth._

 _Daddy, they hurt him. You must have guessed by now but James says that every time he goes home he comes back with a couple new scars. We worry that he may not come back every time we say goodbye to him. The others don't know it, but when we get off the train, "goodbye" might be the last goodbye you get to say to him. I fear the day that we board the Hogwarts Express and he isn't there. I also fear that that day may not be very far away._

 _What is wrong with the world? Why does a good person (alright, he's a bit of a horse's ass to Lily but whatever) have to be in so much pain? This doesn't seem fair and it hurts me to think about. Is this what the war is? Is this what we're fighting against? Sometimes it all feels so dark that I think it's a miracle that the world is still in one piece. If this is what evil is then I know for certain that I am not evil because these are the actions not of people, but of monsters._

 _Tell Mom that I'm safe and please reply soon, Daddy._

 _Stay safe and with all my love,_

 _Dany_

When Lily finished reading the letter, she felt sick with herself. She had only been mentioned once and the rest of the letter had been deeply personal. She shouldn't have read it. No one but her father should have read that.

Dany was worried about Sirius, and she was deeply worried about the war, that much was obvious. It was haunting, Lily thought, to see her inner thoughts. It was even more haunting that her best friend sounded far older than fourteen in some ways and in others still sounded like a child; she was being forced into growing up exponentially faster than most and Lily supposed it was because of her family's position in the Ministry. The war was always spun to be rather optimistic at school and seeing that school was the only place she ever heard about it, she had just assumed they were telling the relatively unbiased truth. The way Dany had been talking, this wasn't a crusade against evil, it was a struggle to survive. As Minister, her father and his family were left exposed as a very public target; Dany was worried about her parents, her friends, and at this rate, it was a miracle she could even get up in the morning at this rate.

Lily placed the letter back where she had found it and glanced at her best friend, practically her sister, sleeping peacefully. She looked like a child still, Lily thought, they all still do. Lilly finally blew the candle out next the Dany's bed and crawled into her bed for a night of sleep that was not nearly as restful as the girl with the silver hair in the bed next to her own.

* * *

Sirius Black woke up the next morning feeling sleep deprived but overall relatively normal. They had been working on the map almost all night, and while Peter and Frank had the luxury of falling asleep, he, Remus, and James did not, as they were the ones actually _creating_ the map. He pulled himself out of bed and shoved James onto the floor on his way to the bathroom, as a form of wake-up call. James hit the floor with a solid thud and made a groaning sound that sounded like a nonverbal, yet very clear, "fuck you". Sirius went into the bathroom and as he brushed his teeth, counted how many days until they had to leave school. Four days, he thought, four days until he had to go back to that hellhole. He had seen James' look of sympathy and to his surprise Dany had also looked rather empathetic to his problem.

He didn't know what she knew about his home life, but he suspected it was more than she let on; he doubted that James had told her much, if anything, but her father knew his parents and it would only take him to rant once at the dinner table for her to guess the rest. Then again, it seemed like her father knew _everyone_ on a personal level. Sirius had always admired the man, despite only ever seeing him in person once when he was a little kid. He was strong, with unbreakable courage and a backbone of steel. The Masters were known for that, of course, but it didn't make it any less striking when you see it in person for the first time. Rhaegar was the same way, although he hadn't fully grown into himself yet. Dany didn't seem to be as bold and strong as her brother and father, but perhaps that was because he knew her as a person and not as some larger-than-life public figure, besides, he thought, we're only thirteen, well Dany was fourteen (her birthday had been a few weeks ago).

Twenty minutes later Sirius went down to the common room to with Frank to wait for the others; if they didn't leave soon, Sirius suspected that they would be witness to James having a fight with Remus for hiding all his pants except for the ones that he had charmed bubblegum pink. As they were coming down the stairs, he heard voices that he easily picked out a crowd.

"…Have time to send it? I saw it on your bed stand last night." Lily.

"I realized this morning that the invitations go out today so I Flooed it home instead of owl post so it would get there in time." Dany. They were undoubtedly talking about the famous Masters' New Years party that James and his family attended every year, along with every other witch and wizard that was a benefactor of the Ministry or a family friend of the Masters clan. Not shockingly, the Blacks had never been invited, as they most certainly would not be considered proper company for the Minister of Magic, the man at the helm of the war against Voldemort, to keep. Sirius suspected that it was also company the Minister had no interest in keeping.

Sirius finally picked Lily and Dany out of the people in the common room after tracking down Lily's read hair. Once he reached them he realized that his tactic had been quite stupid. There were other redheads in their house; there was no one but Rhaegar and his sister who had the silver hair that had been standing next to Lily. Dany and Lily both looked up and smiled, Dany more so than her friend.

"Hey, Sirius. Hey, Frank." Lily said. Dany greeted them too with smiles.

"Hey you two. Are you hiding from your roommates too?" They both nodded.

"Remus turned James' pants pink. He's about to have a stroke, honestly. When we left, Peter was trying to mediate but that mainly consisted of ducking jinxes." Frank said. Lily laughed and Dany snorted into her hand. "Why are you two hiding?" He asked. Dany shrugged at the same time Lily spoke.

"Same as always, Marlene and Alice are fighting over a pair of shoes or something. I'm not really sure to be honest; as soon as it starts up we haul ass." Lily said with another laugh.

"You all just want to go down to breakfast without them, then? Honestly they could be forever. All of them." Dany said. The four of them got along (well Lily only got along with Sirius when James wasn't around) so apparently she wasn't worried about another battle breaking out, like the two upstairs had. They all nodded and left Gryffindor Tower together. They all easily talked to each other and reached the Great Hall without incident. Twenty minutes later, James, Remus, Peter, Marlene, and Alice all appeared. James' pants were back to their normal color, everything on Remus' face was in the right position, Peter no longer looked like he felt the need to hide, and both of the girls looked unharmed; it was like nothing ever happened. The five of them sat down and breakfast continued on peacefully until the post arrived.

The number of owls today was incredible, and Sirius knew why. He had overheard Dany saying that invitations were going out today and typically, an invitation was sent to the home and another would be sent to the child in school, if there _was_ a child in school. These were the kids' invitations floating about, and unsurprisingly, one landed in front of James almost immediately. James thanked the majestic looking bird and it flew away almost immediately. Another landed in front of Lily and she thanked the bird as well before it flew back off to carry out more work for the Minister. A smaller, friendlier bird landed in front of Dany and she smiled and touched its head. She removed the letter and the bird nipped her finger affectionately.

"Alright, alright, you can have it." She said and let the bird grab the piece of bacon out of her hand. The owl hooted at her once more before taking off like the others. The birds kept coming and soon a great number at the Gryffindor table had a letter in front of them. There were two owls still circling, trying to find the people their letters were addressed to. Finally, one of them dropped down towards the Gryffindor table and landed in front of Sirius, almost directly on his plate. Dany and James snorted as he hastily moved his plate out of the way to untie the letter. The bird left and by the time he looked up again, the other bird that had been searching had also left. Dany glanced at the handwriting on her letter and shoved it deep into her bag. They all finally looked down at what they had in their hands. Lily, James, and Sirius all had one. Lily looked at Dany and she winked quickly. Sirius looked at the envelope and realized it was written in calligraphy.

 _Sirius Orion Black III_

 _The Great Hall_

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

He opened it, having absolutely no idea who it was from. He supposed that the others were the party invitations, but there was no way that the Blacks were going to be invited so he quickly dismissed this idea. He pulled out the paper in it and he was surprised to see there was a letter waiting for him. It wasn't in the beautiful calligraphy that the envelope was.

 _Sirius,_

 _My daughter wrote to me last night; she worries for you greatly and I fear that she has every reason to. I have no particular fondness of your family, but from what she has said to her mother and myself, you are not like them. Your house says that on its own. Know that there is always a way out of the darkness and that if you should ever need help, it is closer than you think. I do believe that seeing your friends halfway through break would be a great assurance to them._

 _See you on the 31_ _st_

 _Daniel Masters_

Sirius read name signed at the bottom at least three times before it sank in that it truly was Dany's father who had written it. He folded it back up and looked at Dany, who was listening to Lily talk excitedly about what dress she should buy. Dany looked up, feeling his stare and when he raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled a little and winked so fast he wasn't sure it happened. She went back to listening to Lily, this time responding and making her own comments. Sirius looked back down at the envelope and realized there was something else in there. He pulled out a piece of thick stationary and realized that he had, in fact, gotten the same notice as everyone else. This was like the envelope in the calligraphy and clearly was not personalized at all, unlike the letter that had been folded in with it.

 _Daniel and Rhea Masters_

 _Along with their children Rhaegar Nathaniel and Danilynn Charlotte_

 _Cordially invite you to the 47_ _th_ _annual New Years Party_

 _The night of 31 December 1972_

 _The event is formal, so please wear your best attire_

 _Upon confirming your presence, you will be sent an owl with the address_

 _Muggle formal attire is encouraged_

He almost laughed about the Muggle clothes. His parents were going to have a bleeding fit so large that it might just be unparalleled.

Sirius glanced at James who looked at him curious, eyes flipping to the envelope. Sirius shrugged and James smiled. He glanced down the table at his Godsister who looked up at him and he smiled at her. She nodded back slightly with a suppressed smile and Sirius could have sworn that he saw James mouth 'thank you' to her.

* * *

James Potter was sitting next to his best friend on the Hogwarts Express. Instead of the excitement and relief that he felt en route to Hogwarts, all he could feel now was the sensation close to someone painfully twisting his insides around as they came closer and closer to London. He was worried. Sirius was always worse for wear after any kind of time around his parents. His only consolation was that the Blacks would be at the Masters' party. Even though that had been neither confirmed nor denied, they weren't foolish enough to deny a direct invitation by the Minister of Magic. So, in this way, his attendance went unsaid and that lifted some of the weight off of James' thirteen-year-old shoulders.

He knew that no one would be particularly thrilled with the Black's presence, everyone would relieved to see their eldest son alive and well. Because he _would_ be alive and well. Walburga and Orion Black wouldn't risk appearing with a battered and broken heir. No one would be able to touch Sirius, not for the first two weeks of break. That alone left James almost ecstatic; Sirius didn't deserve any of the shit he got from them and if James had the chance, he knew that he'd kill them without a second thought. He suspected that he'd have to get in line behind his parents for that, though.

Dany and Lily were sitting on the floor of their compartment, laughing at some joke Remus was telling. Marlene was pressed up against the window because Alice and Frank were talking and she appeared to want to get as far away from the happy 'couple' as possible. Sirius was squished between James and Remus. Peter had taken a portkey directly from school because his family was leaving the country for break. Everyone looked relatively relaxed but if James looked close enough at the set of Remus' shoulders and the way Frank was clenching his hands, it was obvious that several people there were not as relaxed as they appeared at first glance. Sirius, for his part, looked like the picture of ease except for the ways his eyes kept flicking from the window to the door.

"…Okay? James?" James looked down to see Dany was eyeing him, looking concerned for his well-being.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine Dan." She nodded but still looked unconvinced by this.

"Alright, if you're sure…what are you doing over break?" She said, quickly changing the subject. James shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm going to have to go get a tux at some point because mine from last year doesn't fit. And I hate getting tuxedos." James grumbled. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You know Potter, only babies whine like that." Lily dryly pointed out. Everyone in the compartment laughed at this. James ignored the statement.

"What about you, little Godsister?" He asked her.

"I'm going to have to go dress shopping…it's always a struggle. You think tuxedos are bad? At least you can only get one kind." James had to give that to her. Dress shopping with a fourteen-year-old girl didn't sound very fun, "And now I'm old enough that I have to wear a floor length dress, which just sounds like a horror to try to walk in. And don't even get me started on the heels." She said with a groan. James looked at her and had a hard time seeing anything but the little girl that he had grown up with; he could barely see the young woman she was becoming. Lily looked up at this.

"Dan! We should go dress shopping together!" Lily said excitedly. Dany laughed at this.

"Sure, I mean my mom needs a new one, but I guess your mom does too. Make it a girls' day?" Dany said, giving Lily what she wanted. It was cute to see, James thought; they became excited over opposite things and they always humored each other, although occasionally they would have to pull each other back to Earth. They balanced each other out almost perfectly. It was when they both became excited over a single thing was when things became dicey.

Sirius and James exchanged a look. Sirius mouthed to him, 'they're crazy' with a grin. James snickered and nodded. Remus caught his eye and smiled too.

Their smiles quickly slid away when they noticed they were in London. James stopped laughing, Remus' smile turned into the expression one would wear at funeral of a distant acquaintance, and the girls all glanced at each other like they no longer were very concerned about dresses at all. Sirius tensed but tried to blow it off.

"Wow you guys, who died?" He tried to joke but no one found it particularly funny, given the situation. They neared King's Cross and people were starting to move around outside their door. None of them moved. Lily was staring straight ahead absently, Remus was trying to read but James was 90% sure his eyes hadn't moved in at least 10 minutes, Alice and Frank had stopped talking, Marlene was staring mournfully out the window, Dany was looking at her hands folded in her lap, and Sirius was staring at Dany rather unabashedly. James watched him watch his Godsister. It wasn't a gooey love-struck look but he looked like he was very much trying to figure her out. James resigned himself to the rest of the ride in silence.

Not much later, the Hogwarts Express started to slow down. Dany suddenly looked up from her death stare at her hands only to catch Sirius staring at her. Lily sighed and Marlene helped her up. They all started to slowly move around the crammed compartment to find their things and not for the first time, James dearly wished that he could take Sirius and just adopt him into the Potter's family. Marlene, Alice, and Frank all left almost immediately with an exclamation of, "Shit! We're late. My parents are going to kill me, and they're Apparating these two home so they're coming with me" from Alice.

Sirius, Lily, Dany, and James all got off the train together. Lily saw her parents first; she hugged Dan tightly and said "we'll talk later about that girls' day", she said goodbye to James (who was very excited by this), and quickly hugged Sirius with the parting statement "See you on New Years". The three of them watched the ginger disappear in the crowd with her parents. James saw his parents, but pretended he didn't. He wasn't going to leave Sirius alone to be reunited with his hellish parents all by himself. He also caught sight of the Ministry driver set to take Dany and her brother home (the Masters didn't come to the platform, as much as they wanted to it was no longer safe to see their children off). She apparently had seen the Ministry worker too because when he opened his mouth to mention it, she silenced him with a look. Walburga and Orion Black got to them before James' parents saw them, with Regulus in tow.

The Blacks were all very tall, Orion far over 6 foot and his wife not far behind. This made the task of looking down their noses at everyone that much easier.

"Sirius. Who are these two?" Walburga sniffed, looking very imperious. James was surprised that she didn't recognize Dany. Maybe she did but was pretending that she didn't. Sirius looked like he didn't want to answer but was going to anyways (possibly with a lie) when Dany jumped into the conversation.

"I'm Danilynn Masters. This is James Potter. You must be Sirius and Regulus' parents." She said sweetly and James raised his eyebrows in surprise. She had commiserated on several occasions with him on wanted to strangle these two and now she was acting like she loved them. Walburga Black seemed taken off guard by this too.

"The Minister's daughter? It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Masters." Dany ignored this as if to say 'yes, the pleasure is yours because it certainly isn't mine'. She still held onto the cheery voice and bubbly attitude.

"My father said that you'd be attending our New Years party for the first time this year; it's a fun party, I promise. Besides, my parents are very excited to meet Sirius; they've met all of my friends except for him. Everyone of notable importance will be there so rest assured that it's well protected. None of this Death Eater nonsense will permitted. Aurors will be protecting the guests the entire night. I'm sorry, but I have to go. My brother is waving me over." She shook hands with Sirius' mother, who pulled her hand back abruptly. James didn't miss the red marks on the back of her hand where Dany had dug her nails in. She nodded at Orion Black and tightly said, "Regulus" to the youngest Black. She hugged Sirius hard and James heard her breathe "stay safe" into his ear before she let him go. She hugged James too and as she walked away said, "See you all on New Years!"

James smiled a little and shook his head. She had played the Minister's daughter perfectly: sweet, unassuming, but confident all the same. She had simultaneously told the Blacks that they were not only obligated to go but that there was no way that any of their Death Eater pals were getting in. She also had made it crystal clear that their son was now under the immediate protection of the Minster and if he looked harmed in any way, Daniel Masters would be taking a personal interest.

James and the Blacks watched her leave and on her way out with her brother, a woman stopped her. She paused and nodding, pulled something from her bag that caught the light with a gold flash. Money. She handed it to the woman, who threw her arms around her. Dany leaned down to speak to the child briefly and then she left the platform with her brother, the woman and her child, and their driver. James gave Sirius the guy equivalent of a hug.

"See you soon, Brother. I'll tell the folks you say hey." Sirius nodded and hugged him back quickly.

"Yeah, tell Dorea that I want that casserole next time I'm at your place. That stuff is wicked good. See you soon, James." Sirius said tightly. James nodded and with nothing else to do, walked off with everyone of his instincts telling him not to leave Sirius with those people.


	2. For You

**Disclaimer: Everything is mine except for the stuff you recognize!**

 **Okay guys so I changed my username, i'm still the same person I swear, so just be aware that it's different than before! I decided it was time for a new one is all.**

 **So, this is how to story is going to run usually, part of a song then Dany's, Lily's, Sirius', and then James' POV and there will be a line break between them (unless I forget).**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

 **Essie**

* * *

I'll bleed out for you  
So I bare my skin  
And I count my sins  
And I close my eyes  
And I take it in  
I'm bleeding out  
I'm bleeding out for you, for you.

~ _Bleeding Out_ , Imagine Dragons

* * *

Dany was impressed with her performance. She hated them. She hated them so much that she was tempted to reach up and snap Walburga Black's neck instead of shake her hand. It was such a simple motion: one snap. It would all be over. They couldn't hurt anyone from the grave. When she finally got to her brother after pushing through the crowd of people on the platform, he looked unhappy with her cavorting with the Blacks. That quickly turned to worry when she came closer.

"Dan…your hands are shaking. Are you okay?" He took her hands and she noticed that they were indeed shaking.

"I'm fine…just pissed. Let's go. Before I go back and break their necks." She snarled. Rae nodded and they started to leave. A woman grabbed Dany on their way out and when Rhaegar started to pull out his wand Dany said, "Stop!" to him quickly. The woman was young and she had a child behind her. A young mother who was apparently magical. They both looked incredibly impoverished and rather hungry.

"Miss Masters. Please, help my baby. Help my baby boy. No one will help me." She begged. Dany looked at her brother who dug through his pockets. Dany reached in her purse and handed them the money she had in there. Six galleons and a couple sickles. Rae contributed a few more galleons and she handed it to the woman.

"Come on, why don't we get you two a square meal? I'm sorry but this is all I have right now." Dany said gently, handing her the money. The woman threw her arms around the young girl, who was quite taken by surprise.

"You sweet girl. I can't ask that of you." Dany smiled and carefully extracted herself from the woman's grasp.

"You shouldn't have to. Really, it's no worry. Right Rae?" She said gently. Rhaegar looked like he might protest and Dany pinned him down with a stare that said 'what would Mom say?' He knew what Mom would say; charity was a pillar of their family and she would berate him for _hours_ for not being charitable enough.

"It's really no trouble…I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." He said kindly.

"Natalie. My name is Natalie. This is Carson." She said softly, gesturing to her son. Dany smiled at the boy.

"Hi Carson. I'm Dany and this is my brother, Rae. You hungry?" The little boy nodded and Dany felt her insides twist a little. He was just a little kid; he shouldn't be starving in the streets, "Alright, well we're going to go have a nice big dinner right now, okay?" Carson nodded and grabbed his mom's hand. They all left King's Cross and Rae said,

"There's a good place about twenty minutes from here. I can apparate us there." Dany nodded.

"Kid friendly? Not formal?" He nodded to both of her quiet questions. She smiled, "Sounds great…alright, if everyone would kindly take an arm of my delightful brother…" they all grabbed an arm or hand.

"Ready? 1…2…3!" Rhaegar Apparated, dragging his sister, the Ministry driver, Natalie, and Carson with him. They all appeared on the side of a street, next to a small restaurant, "This is it." They all walked in and the waitress waved them into a seat,

"Anywhere you like, y'all." They all nodded and picked a seat by the window. The waitress came over and said, "What can I get you lot to drink?"

"Coffee for me is great." Dany said.

"Cream?"

"Please."

"Water, please." Rhaegar said. The Ministry worker declined any offer of food or drink. Dany suspected that it was in his job description to do and say as little as humanly possible.

"I'll take water as well, thank you." Natalie said timidly.

"Can I get milk?" Carson asked Dany quietly and quickly, like he was expecting a complete letdown.

"Of course. Chocolate?" She responded. He nodded quickly and Dany smiled at the waitress, "He'll take a chocolate milk." The server nodded and left, promising to be back in a flash. They all flipped through their menus and Dany silently gave her brother props for picking this place; it was just average food, nothing extraordinary, and nothing that would upset stomachs that had essentially been on a prison diet.

"What are you feeling like getting Dan?" Her brother asked. She shrugged.

"Not sure. Do you know if Mom and Dad are holding up dinner for us?" She asked him.

"I don't think so. Dad probably isn't even home, honestly. We'll probably still beat them both back home." Rae responded.

"Well, in that case, I'd really like… eggs and bacon." She decided.

"It's six in the evening." Her brother pointed out.

"What can I say? I'm an odd one." She dryly said. She looked up at Natalie and Carson, "What are you two going to get?"

"I don't know…I don't want us to be a burden." Natalie said meekly. Dany waved a hand.

"Please, don't worry about it. Anything goes, I promise." She nodded but still didn't look convinced. The waitress came back and Dany and Rhaegar both easily ordered. Natalie hesitated and then ordered a grilled cheese, plain. Carson ordered the same thing. The siblings exchanged a look.

"Actually, can you also grab a couple of cheeseburgers?" Rhaegar said suddenly. The server nodded.

"Sure thing, honey. Be right back."

"Having a sudden craving for red meat, Big Brother?" Dany joked. Rae just winked at her and they all talked a little before the food came out. When it did, Rhaegar got two cheeseburgers, and the sandwich he had originally ordered. As soon as the server walked away, he pushed the burgers towards the mother and child.

"Go ahead, eat. You two look like you could use a healthy dose of protein." They both dug into the food and Dany and Rae idly watched them eat. All of the food was gone in record time and soon the check was delivered. Rae took it and paid immediately, not letting anyone else at the table see the number, despite it probably being rather low, at least by their standards, Dany guessed. They left the diner and Rhaegar asked Natalie if there was anywhere they could take them. She said taking them back to King's Cross would be more than enough. They all Apparated again and with one more hug for each, Natalie and her son wished them all the fortune and good will in the world and soon vanished into the masses of people walking past the station. Dany smiled.

"That was a wonderful thing you did, Dan." Her brother said softly. She looked up at him.

"It was what was right. Now come on, let's go home." Their driver walked them to their car and they climbed into the backseat, settling in for the long ride up into Scotland.

The siblings woke up hours later, no more than ten minutes from their home. Dany rubbed her eyes and saw her brother doing the same. It was good to be home she thought to herself. The wrought iron gate that stood sentinel in front of the Masters Estate loomed in the distance; when they approached it she felt the wards around their home shudder, recognizing the Masters blood in the car. The gate opened and they were home, making the drive up the long wooded driveway. Suddenly, the trees stopped and their house was visible, yellow with white columns. There were lights on inside and once the car stopped, Dany and Rae jumped out of the car to get their things. They pulled their trunks out of the car and dragged them up the stairs onto the porch, thanking the Ministry driver for being so patient. They opened the door and shoved the trunks in before walking in themselves. They exchanged a look of relief at finally being home.

"Mom? Dad?" Rae called out. There was almost immediately an answer from the second floor.

"Rhaegar? Is that you?" Their mother called back, moments later appearing between each of the curved staircases, leaning over the iron handrail at the top. She smiled, "My kids. Safe and sound. Daniel! They're here!" She rushed down the stairs and hugged both of them tightly. Over her mother's shoulder, Dany caught sight of her father. As much as she loved her mother, she knew she always would be a Daddy's girl. Their mom dropped her arms and moved over to fret over Rhaegar and how he wasn't eating enough; truth was that he ate enough for three but still looked like he never ate and constantly exercised. Dany smiled at her dad. He grinned back.

"Dany, come here." He said. She launched herself into his arms and he gripped her tightly, making her feel like a little kid again. While Dany shared a deeper understanding and bond with her father, Rae was more connected to their mother. Dany always assumed that it was because Dany and her father were so much alike, just as her brother and mother were like each other, "My baby girl. My brave, brave girl." He said softly.

"I missed you, Daddy." She whispered into his chest.

"I missed you too, Sweetheart." He whispered back. She hugged him tighter for a second and then let go. She quickly rubbed her eyes. God, she missed her parents when she was at school; it was like being hungry and not noticing just _how_ hungry you are until someone put a plate of food in front of you. She didn't feel too bad about choking up when she caught her dad trying to pull the 'I have something in my eye' card. Rhea, their mother, finally interrupted the tearful reunions.

"Have you two eaten? And I mean a real meal, not the garbage I know they feed you on that train." She said. She was very no-nonsense where her children's health and care were concerned. They both nodded.

"We ate. Actually, we had quite the experience, Mom. You'll be really proud of Dan when you hear this one." Rae said. She smiled at her brother.

"Dany? What happened?" Their mother said, like she was expecting to be the opposite of proud; she wasn't to be blamed. Stories that started out with "You'll be really proud of Dany" usually ended in her being grounded. She didn't know how to start this particular story so her brother answered.

"We were leaving the platform, right? And this woman that looks like she hasn't seen a good meal in a long time just grabs Dany's arm," Their parents looked less than thrilled at someone grabbing their daughter during wartime, "And I go to pull out my wand but Dany tells me to put it away. The woman, Natalie, is no more than 25 and she's got a kid with her. She holds onto Dany and begs her to help her son. So we gave them everything we had on hand and then Dany talks to the kid, Carson, and asks him if he's hungry. Of course the kid's starved, I mean these two look like they've been pulled right out of the gutter. So your daughter offered to take them to dinner somewhere. So we ate at a diner with them. We're going to need more money when we go back to Hogwarts, though; we gave most everything we had to them." Their parents exchanged a look that could only be described as incredibly proud.

"That was a wonderful thing you did, both of you. You're right, I'm very proud that you thought to do that." Their mother said to both of them.

"I originally just wanted to go home but Dan made me stay to help them, truth be told." Rhaegar admitted. Dany raised her eyebrows; he _never_ admitted his shortcomings to their parents, especially Mom, so she had no idea why he was now.

"Rhaegar, it really wouldn't kill you to take a leaf out of your sister's book on this," Their mother reprimanded him sternly, "Charity is a pillar of this family and I will not let my children be the ones to send that crashing to the ground." Rae caught her eye and she tilted her head questioningly. He winked at her with a small smile. He was giving her full-credit for what had happened, something that he never thought to do. Her dad said quietly,

"Come on, let's leave these two to it. I have a feeling they'll be here a while." Dany nodded and followed her dad, to her surprise, to his study. She was seldom allowed in here, seldom was _anyone_ allowed in here. He sat in one of the armchairs and she sat in the other, "Dan, I want to hear exactly why it is I invited the Blacks to a party full of perfectly nice people. No lies, no bullshit, I want the truth." He said questioningly, yet still stern.

"I told you, I'm afraid for him. I really am. James worries just as much as I do, I can tell; we all do. I met them today, you know, the Blacks." Daniel Masters looked like he would rather tear the Ministry down brick-by-brick than let his daughter talk to Walburga or Orion Black, "I was with Sirius and James on the platform and they came over to get Sirius. They're horrible people; they scared me. Of course I was perfectly polite, but I really wanted to kill them. If they were dead, this whole problem would be over…Does that make me a bad person?" She asked quietly. It was a question that she had been turning over in her mind ever since the urge to murder Walburga Black had seriously crossed her mind.

"No, Danilynn, it doesn't make you a bad person. Your thoughts can't turn you into a bad person, only your actions. Even then, Walburga and Orion Black wouldn't be a great loss to Wizarding society. We all have good sides and bad sides, black and white, light and dark. Who you are is the side you feed. You wanted to, but you didn't; wouldn't you say that that makes you better than if you had?" Dany nodded a little, "See? What you did today fed the light in you, not the dark. You're not a bad person, you're probably a better person for it, actually." He said to her honestly. She smiled and felt a weight lift off her shoulders, "Now, I really do want to hear this 'Sirius Black is better than his parents' song and dance."

"Daddy, he was sorted into Gryffindor, wasn't he? I think that says a lot about who he is. James loves him like a brother and even Lily likes him, well as much as Lily can like anyone associated with James. He's kind, not very even-tempered but who am I to talk? He's really loyal and smart and funny and doesn't deserve those evil people as his parents. I just want to make sure that he's okay; besides, I don't think James could make it through break without seeing him." Daniel watched his daughter closely as she spoke, "Every time he comes back to school, he's jumpy. He won't let anyone near him and James says that he'll change in the bathroom, but only for the first week or so back; he thinks its because he has bruises that he doesn't want anyone to see. That's the truth; no lies or bullshit." She finished, looking back at her dad with her identical eyes. It was like looking in a mirror. Her father leaned back in his chair.

"Alastor is going to positively lose it when I tell him that the Blacks are going to be there. On the bright side, if they're right under our noses, they can't be wreaking havoc somewhere else." He commented dryly. Dany laughed once.

"You haven't told Alastor? What, is it going to be a surprise? I'm sure he'll love it." She joked. Her father laughed too, "Daddy? Why is the world so mean to people that don't deserve it?" She asked quietly. Her father's laughter quickly faded.

"Sweetheart…come here." He opened his arms and she crawled into his lap. Even at fourteen, she had never grown out of her childhood habits where her father was concerned, "The world isn't all mean, and you know that. Am I mean?"

"No…"

"What about your brother or mom? And what about these friends you like so much? I don't think they're particularly mean either." Dany shook her head.

"No, they're not mean…" She said, not quite sure where her dad was going with this.

"Dany, if we lose hope now, there is nothing to fight for. There is always hope, and there is _always_ light. As long as our family lives, as long as the Masters line endures, there will always be hope. And know that no matter how dark and cruel the world may seem sometimes, if you look hard enough, I promise that you'll always find something good in it." He said softly. Dany nodded again. She trusted her father, granted the entire world trusted her father but they didn't actually _know_ him. She did.

"Moody is going to be so pissed when you tell him about the Blacks." She said with a little bit of a giggle. Her father groaned.

"God, I can hear it now. 'Daniel, I've told you a thousand ruddy times to maintain constant vigilance! I might as well drink myself to an early grave with all the grief your family gives me' It's going to be fantastic." He said, mimicking the phrase that Alastor Moody couldn't stop himself from saying. Dany laughed at her father and thought about just how much the world was missing out on by not knowing _this_ part of Daniel Masters.

* * *

Lily woke up the morning after she returned home to a shrill scream from downstairs. She put a pillow over her face to try to block the sound out but it appeared that Petunia's voice had reached an entirely new level of shrillness. Lily was rather worried that her father's glasses would break, at this rate. She checked the time and begrudgingly admitted that she couldn't really blame Petunia for waking her up; it was quarter past noon, after all. But the time didn't keep her from still being obnoxious. The redhead pulled herself out of bed and shuffled downstairs to see her mother, father, sister, and an unknown man in the kitchen.

Unknown people set her nerves on edge. Stranger danger was being elevated to a new level of importance in the Wizarding World. If you didn't know them they could be a Death Eater; hell, even if you _did_ know them they could be a Death Eater. She slowly pulled her wand out of a pocket in her pajama pants.

"Mom…Dad…who is this?" She asked warily. Everyone turned around to look at her and her mother's eyes darted to her wand. She shook her head slightly, meaning to put it away. Lily moved her wand out of the man's line of sight but didn't put it away.

"Lily. This is Petunia's boyfriend Vernon." Lily finally put her wand away and shook Vernon's hand. Petunia was about six years older than Lily, making her almost 19. If Petunia looked like a string bean than this man looked very much like an overweight gerbil. Lily forced herself to smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Vernon. I'm Lily…Petunia, I didn't know you had a new boyfriend." Lily said to her sister. 'More like you've _ever_ had a boyfriend' Lily thought to herself, despite fibbing for her sister and pretending that she was catching men left, right, and center. Petunia glared at her.

"I didn't feel the need for my little sister to approve my relationships. Besides, you know now, don't you?" The elder sister sniffed. Lily raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Whatever, I'm too tired to deal with this…" She went to the stove and helped herself to some of the eggs there, "Mom? Dany and her mom want to have a girls' day to get dresses for the New Years thing. Petunia, are you coming?" Lily asked stiffly. Petunia looked mortified.

"As if I'd go to something like that. No, I'll be somewhere else with Vernon." Lily glanced at Vernon again and still wasn't very impressed. Lily was 100% sure that she'd rather spend the rest of her life alone than with the pudgy man standing next to her sister.

"Oh, well in that case it would be just you, me, Dany, and her mom. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? I mean they definitely know all the best places for dresses and we'd be sure that we'd be appropriately dressed." Lily told her mom. Mrs. Evans thought about it.

"I think it sounds lovely. Does Dany's mother know about this?" Mrs. Evans told her daughter, but still seemed skeptical of this plan actually happening. Lily shook her head.

"Not yet, I don't think. I was going to run it by you first and then write Dan. Besides, Dany and Rhaegar probably got home late because of where they live and all. I'd be shocked if Dan or her brother are even out of bed yet." Lily replied to her mother.

"Vernon, I hear you're in the drill business?" Mr. Evans said, interrupting the talk of dresses. Lily suspected that he wanted to change the subject before magic of any kind was accidentally mentioned in front of the oblivious Muggle in their midst. Vernon nodded.

"I am, I just started with Grunnings Drills in London. I'm looking at a promotion into the sales department in less than two years though." He said to the girls' father. Lily smiled into her hand at the look on her father's face that said he rather regretted asked this question. The redhead got the distinct impression that Vernon was trying very desperately to impress her father with this; she also got the impression that her father wasn't particularly impressed. Thomas Evans loathed most boring things and nothing was more boring than drill sales.

"Oh, that sounds like a very…lucrative business to be in." Her father said generously, trying to come up with something to say that wasn't a complete lie. Vernon nodded, oblivious to her father's feelings on the topic.

"It is. It pays very well. Not to mention that it introduced me to your daughter. She was in a typing course and I happened to walk through and the rest is history, you could say." Vernon said. Petunia blushed and looked flattered. Lily had stifle her giggles in her hand and quickly excused herself from the room before she started laughing out loud or hurt herself from trying _not_ to laugh. She went back to her room and pulled out some parchment.

 _Dan,_

 _My mom is totally down with going dress shopping but she wants to make sure that your mom is aware that this is actually happening so don't forget to run it by her! Anyways, I know we've only been home for a day but I have so much to tell you. Petunia brought home her first boyfriend and to say he's chubby is like saying that my hair is only kind of red. He's built like a Rubik's Cube! I swear he's just as wide as he is tall. Petunia is head over heels for him but honestly I think I'd rather be single for the rest of my life than go anywhere near him. I don't know what she sees in him except the fact that he's so boring that he makes vanilla seem interesting. I'm sure by the time I see you for dress shopping I'll have so much more to tell you!_

 _By the way, let me know if you hear anything from Sirius. As much as I don't like Potter (and anyone who associates with him) I worry about his best friend. It would make me feel a lot better to know that he's okay._

 _Lots of love,_

 _Lily_

Lily reread her letter and attached it to her owl's leg with the instructions to go to Dany and to not bother to wait for a reply. The bird looked at her with a level of understanding and took off out her window. Lily watched the owl fly off until it was just a dot in the sky that eventually vanished. Realizing that she had very little to do compounded with just how sleep deprived she was from this past term, Lily crawled back into bed, hoping that Petunia wouldn't wake her up with her squeals of excitement this time.

* * *

Sirius was miserable; there was no other way to put it. All he wanted was to be able to leave his room for an hour and maybe write a letter to James. His parents had been infuriated by their encounter with Dany on the platform. For his part, Sirius had wanted to kiss her for how she had walked all over his parents and they hadn't been able to stop her. Regulus was quite indifferent on the matter. But the fact still remained that his parents were pissed. _Really_ pissed. So, Sirius was confined to his room as punishment for having such disrespectful friends. It was the closest they could get to their usual flavor of punishment until after New Years. If he didn't look healthy, taken care of, and happy at the time of the party, Dany would be upset, which meant her dad would be getting involved, which reeked of trouble for the Blacks. The last thing his parents wanted was the Minister making a point to sniff around their family.

However, Sirius was becoming quite stir crazy. He hadn't left his room in over three days and even meals were brought up to him by the house elf. He wanted to bang his head into a brick wall he was so bored. He briefly considered what he had overheard Dany say in the common room the day the party invitations were released. She had said something about being able to Floo letters. Maybe he could give it a try? If only he had Floo powder or a fireplace connected to the network.

As days passed, he became more and more bored. So bored that he was reduced to actually doing his homework for the holidays. Sometimes he'd bounce a quaffle off one of the walls in his bedroom. Mostly, he tried to sleep as much as possible. He wrote letters that he fully intended to never let anyone read. He tried to teach himself how to do a handstand. It took four days but he was successful. He flipped through a year-old copy of the Daily Prophet at least twenty times. He had briefly wondered why he had kept that until he had noticed Dany's face on one of the pages. He had probably kept it because of the article. He reread the article at least forty times. Dany and her friends had been seen in Diagon Alley without parental supervision; is _this_ what parenting has come to in the Wizarding World? Lily's hair was recognizable even in black-and-white.

About a week into his solitude, someone actually opened the door. Sirius was lying in bed, wondering if his head could hit the ceiling if he jumped high enough. He started at the unexpected intrusion and looked up to see his father. This was less unsettling than if his mother had been there. Anytime Walburga Black was involved, nothing ever turned out well for anyone (except maybe her).

"Sirius, come with me." His father said tersely. Sirius wasn't surprised; Orion did everything in as few words as possible. Still, Sirius followed his father out of his room for the first time in a long time. They walked downstairs and there was a man there with a measuring tape. Regulus was also there and he looked quite bored. As always. Sirius looked at his brother's clothes and realized that this was the fitting for the clothes for Dany's party. He had to fight the urge to snigger at the fact that his holier-than-thou parents would be "reduced" to having to wear Muggle clothes. The man was older, maybe around sixty, and rather short and bald. Still, he smiled at Sirius kindly and Sirius wanted to cry it was so nice to have someone look at him without disdain.

"Ah, you must be Sirius. I'm Lorenzo. Good to meet you." The man said. Sirius shook his hand with a hesitant smile. Sirius saw his parents exchange outraged looks; they clearly hadn't told this man who he was, but someone else had. Who was this guy who already knew him? There was no way anyone who was this nice, and specialized in Muggle clothes, would ever be connected to his parents in any way, "Ah, yes I see I forgot to say how exactly I ended up here. I'm a friend of the Masters'; I daresay that I've been making young Daniel's dress robes and suits ever since he was toddling around after his own father." The man remarked. Dany and her family were officially angels for sending this man, Sirius thought to himself.

"Really? Do you know the rest of the family then?" Sirius casually asked Lorenzo as he began to measure his various extremities. What he meant was 'did Dany send you?'

"I do. Of course, I only met the Rhea when she was engaged to Daniel. But yes, I've known Rhaegar and Danilynn since birth. Lovely family, absolutely lovely people. I'm assuming that someone here is close to them, as I was specifically asked to come here." He responded as he continued his work. Walburga and Orion glared at Sirius who was rather enjoying this line of conversation, despite knowing that there was more than likely going to be hell for it later.

"Yeah, that would be me actually…" Sirius said softly, before trailing off. Lorenzo looked at him, eyes twinkling as he correctly guessed his relation to the Masters clan.

"Ah, sweet Danilynn. Of course she was much sweeter as a young girl, before all this war nonsense. But she still has an incredible capacity for compassion. From what she says, so do you. It makes you quiet the odd duckling, doesn't it? Yes…she really does care about you, you know, truly. She cares for all her friends of course, but I've never seen her so worried. And I've definitely never seen her and Daniel fight the way they did over this." He said absently. Sirius vaguely wondered if Lorenzo knew he was standing in a room full of Dark wizards (plus Sirius). Probably. He probably just didn't care. He also processed the statement about her and her father fighting. Dany had sent the man and her father had tried to stop it, probably as precaution.

"Is she particularly close to her dad? I would have thought not, considering how much time he must spend at work these days." Sirius remarked, still enjoying the conversation and was quite hoping it wouldn't ever end.

"To call them close would be a spectacular understatement. Even as a young child, she adored her father and he certainly adores her. When she was born, I've never seen a man cry so much. I remember every time I would go over to see Daniel and he'd try to leave the room for something much as we're doing now, she'd cry and grab onto her father's leg, so of course she'd end up coming with us. You can say many things about her, but the girl loves her father, and between you and me, I've always thought that Daniel favors her between his two children. He told me once that Rhaegar may be his firstborn, but she would always be his little girl. It's really only fair considering that Rhea favors Rhaegar…well, it appears that we're done here." He said, releasing Sirius from having the magical measuring tape flitting around his body, "I'll send someone in a day or so with everything completed for you three." He said, indicating Sirius, Regulus, and Orion. Apparently, Lorenzo didn't specialize in women's clothing and so Walburga would have to find her own dress for the occasion. The man kindly said goodbye to everyone, who were all rather terse back, except for Sirius, who the man hugged.

"She said to tell you that they all miss you and Happy late Christmas." Lorenzo whispered in his ear. Sirius smiled but then tried to conceal it quickly, in hopes that his parents hadn't caught it. He glanced at them and it appeared that they had been doing their best not to look at the odd man and so hadn't caught the smile or the whispered sentence. Lorenzo finally left with a nod and Kreacher, the house elf, walked him to the door. Walburga looked less than pleased with her oldest son.

"Sirius. Orion. Black. What did you tell her? What does she know about us?" She hissed at him.

"I haven't told her anything. But honestly Mother, the girl has more than two brain cells to rub together; it's not that difficult to figure out." Sirius said coldly. The man's words were floating around inside of him. They all missed him. Even if his parents didn't give a shit, other people did. Dany was clearly worried, which meant so was James, and damn maybe even Evans was concerned if the youngest Masters was this over-the-top. His reply did not go well with his mother.

"More than two brain cells. Please, I'd be shocked if that entire family has two brain cells combined. They never know what's good for them. No sense of self-preservation and certainly no sense of what's good for the Wizarding community. Accepting Muggleborns as friends and companions. No self-respecting pureblood family would let their children do that, or partake themselves." She drawled, very unkindly. Sirius wanted to point out that the Wizarding community his mother was so concerned for had been built on the backs of the Masters family, who had led the Ministry since it was founded, but he said nothing, not seeing the point in it.

"Mother? Why is the Minister so concerned with Sirius?" Regulus asked. Everyone looked at him, having quite forgotten he was there.

"That's a wonderful question, Regulus. Why _is_ the Minister so concerned with you, Sirius?" Walburga asked keenly. Sirius told her, for once, the truth.

"I'm friends with his daughter. He probably tries to keep an eye on all of her friends, especially in times of war, like right now. Dan's a nice girl, she worries too much, about all of us." Sirius responded with a shrug. His parents looked at him hard, trying to discern if he was lying or not. They apparently couldn't decide and Orion simply said,

"Go back to your room and stay there." Sirius wanted to bang his head on the kitchen table at that. But he had no choice as his father, who had apparently run out of patience, dragged him back to his room and roughly tossed him back in it.

* * *

James love his mother to death but sometimes he wanted to bloody kill her himself. Especially when she was dragging him all over London looking for the perfect suit for him to wear to New Years.

"Mom…I'm telling you, no one is going to notice or care if I wear the one from last year." He groaned as they left the third store of the day.

"I will know and I will care, James. Besides, you'll look much better in one that fits and you _do_ want to impress this Lily girl, don't you?" His mother baited. James sighed but nodded, resigning himself to a long day of shopping with his mother. He _did_ want to impress Lily, after all.

It took six stores and five fittings to satisfy Dorea Potter that her son's tuxedo fit correctly. If James thought that he was frustrated after the third, he was now ready to pitch himself off a bridge just to make the shopping stop. James honestly didn't know how long it took for her to find a dress and he had every intention of never finding out. When they walked back into their house, James' father looked up form where he was reading the newspaper and grinned at him.

"Long day?" He laughed to his son. James groaned and threw himself into the chair next to his father.

"How you survived the process of a wedding with her is beyond me. The woman is a bloody lunatic about shopping." James muttered. His dad laughed again.

"I did a lot of hiding, truth be told. But even I couldn't escape the wrath of your grandmother and mother when there was a problem with her dress. I didn't even have anything to do with it; it was too big or something. She still threw a plate at my head through all of her tears." Charlie said, recalling the fight that mainly consisted of his then-fiancée screaming and him running and ducking.

"Makes a lot of sense. Women are insane, bonkers I tell you." James said, already sick of the other sex at age thirteen.

"That they are…oh before I forget, Dany sent word over earlier today when you and Mom were out. She sent her family's friend, who also happens to make suits and dress robes, over to the Black's place a couple of days ago to see how everything was going." James immediately started paying more attention to what his father was saying.

" _What_? Is Sirius okay?" James demanded to know.

"Well, seeing that your mother and I aren't there right now raiding their house, I would say yes." His dad said dryly. "She said that Lorenzo told her that Sirius looked healthy, if not a little pale and starved for human contact. New Years is in two days; you'll be seeing him soon. Besides, you know Daniel; if Dany thinks there's something wrong over there, he'll find anything he can do to help. Everyone is doing everything they can for him right now." James nodded. Daniel Masters was not only a good man and leader but also an exceptionally devoted father and husband; if there was anything he could do to help, he would. James just had to trust in the fact that Masters' family didn't end with blood and that they protected their own with their lives, if need be.


	3. The Fire's Found a Home in Me

**Disclaimer: yeah...**

 **Hey guys! This is a massive chapter (it's like almost 20 pages on my computer) and it's all the NYE party!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Essie**

* * *

 _I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm._  
 _And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold,_  
 _My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones,_  
 _It keeps my veins hot, the fire's found a home in me._  
 _I move through town, I'm quiet like a fight,_  
 _And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie._

 _And now people talk to me, but nothing ever hits home_  
 _People talk to me, and all the voices just burn holes._

 _~Yellow Flicker Beat,_ Lorde

* * *

Dany was named after her great-grandmother. The first Danilynn Charlotte was a bold, regal woman who had taken absolutely no shit from anyone. Dany always felt somewhat uncomfortable being called by her full name for this reason; she didn't feel bold or regal at least 95% of the time. Looking at herself in the mirror in her mother's bathroom she, for once, felt like she was doing her namesake justice. She was in a bright blue halter dress and the heels on her feet made her taller than usual. Her hair remained down for the most part, except for the braids that came together at the back of her head. For once in her life she felt like the girl she was supposed to be: perfect. Her father walked into the bathroom and smiled at her.

"You look beautiful, Sweetheart. Ready?" He said. She nodded and followed her dad into the hallway, reaching the balcony above the entryway. Rhaegar and their mom were already there. Rae grinned at his sister.

"There _is_ something cute under all that nerd after all!" He laughed. Dany whacked him in the arm and he yelped "Ow!" before their mother could break them up. The best-kept secret about the Masters' New Years party was that it's held at their home. Unless you had gone, you'd never know. Of course, the upper floors were off limits to guests but more than 200 people would pour into their house starting in less than 5 minutes. The Aurors had been there for hours making preparations for tonight; Daniel had insisted that once the party started that Alastor take a break and join in the fun ("it won't hurt, Alastor, honestly"). The doorbell rang. The four of them finally made their way down the stairs and Daniel opened the door. They all warmly greeted the Mr. and Mrs. Jones from Magical Law Enforcement and so the evening began.

People kept arriving for at least an hour. James and his parents appeared about twenty minutes in with Dorea apologizing saying "Sorry we're late, we can't make James be on time to save his life, really." Lily appeared with her parents not much later and the two girls complimented each other on their dresses and hair, as teen girls tend to do. Eventually, people stopped entering as consistently and Dany and Rae were allowed to leave the doorway to go talk to people instead of greeting everyone. Dany was idly walking around with Lily and James, with Dany pointing out who's who and telling them anything remotely funny about them. Suddenly, James looked towards the door sharply.

"They're here." Dany and Lily turned around quickly and Dany immediately excused herself.

"I'll go and play Minister's daughter, you two entertain yourselves." She said before pushing her way through the crowd. She reached her parents just as Walburga was moving towards them. She noticed that Rhaegar had appeared not five seconds after her, flashing his sister a smile. They shuffled around so the Blacks would run into Daniel then Rhea then Rhaegar and finally Dany as they walked through. Both of her parents were exceedingly courteous to both Walburga and Orion. Rhaegar shook both of their hands and finally asked what they had all been wondering.

"Are your children not coming, Mrs. Black?" Her brother said in a very neutral tone. Dany's eyes flipped over to her brother momentarily and she watched Walburga's expression pinch into an expression resembling that of one who just swallowed a lemon. Dany tried not to laugh at her face.

"They are. They must have wandered off somewhere…oh, here they are." Orion answered for his wife, who seemed incapable of speech at this point. Dany's head snapped up but she didn't catch sight of either Sirius or Regulus before she was stuck shaking Walburga Black's hand. She said nothing, but her husband did speak to her.

"Miss Masters, I hear you are friends with my son. How on Earth did he come by such a friendship?" He said and there was a clear challenge in his eyes. She could almost hear her father's groan of 'why did you have to talk to her' from her spot almost 10 feet away from him. Dany couldn't stop herself from rising to it.

"Regulus? I'm sorry I can't say I know him very well; it's probably because he's in the year below me at school…" Dany watched his expression keenly for a second, letting it sink in then pretended to remember something, "Oh! You mean Sirius. I'm sorry, I honestly forget that he's related to you sometimes; it's just he's just so opposite of the rest of you. Fortunate to have such a clever and well-rounded heir." She said faking a sense of obliviousness and kindness, pretending that she hadn't just called them complete dumbasses with her backhanded compliment. Orion and Walburga looked at her like she had lost her mind. Her mother looked less than impressed and her father and brother were both trying really hard not to laugh and were both failing. She heard a chuckle from behind Orion and saw it was Regulus; Sirius was still out of her line of vision. Both of his parents looked at him.

"What? It was funny." He said to them. With nothing more to do, Orion and Walburga stormed off, with Regulus trailing behind them. He paused to whisper, "That was amazing" to Dany then left.

"Danilynn Charlotte—"

"Hush, Rhea they had it coming. And it's not like you disagree." Daniel replied with a laugh.

"Yeah Mom, they're bloody horrible; they should at least know it." Rhaegar added on, also chuckling. Dany's mother looked like she was going to start lecturing them all on manners, husband included, when another voice spoke up.

"Hey, I live with them and I don't disagree so I doubt anyone really can." Dany's head snapped up at the distinctly male voice. She wanted to cry with relief; Sirius looked healthy, maybe not flourishing, but most definitely alive. He was supposed to greet her parents then Rae then her and they all knew it. Sirius grinned at her quickly then shook her father's hand.

"Minister. It's an honor, sir. Really, my parents hate you so much that I've actually been quite excited to meet you, I figured that you must be a great guy." Sirius said half-serious half-joking. Dany's dad shook his hand and seemed rather surprised but still smiled, he really meant it too, Dany thought.

"The pleasure's mine. Dany and James certainly only have good things to say about you. And please call me Daniel, all of Dany's friends do." Her father answered with another smile. Sirius looked surprised but said nothing. He shook hands with Dany and Rae's mom.

"Sirius Black. You might be the only good thing that your family ever produced." She said simply. Sirius looked rather flattered by this. He smiled at her in the same charming way that the children of powerful people do.

He shook hands with Rhaegar and they shared a brief moment of teen boy understanding and a head nod. Finally, he moved towards Dany.

"Hey, Dan." He said with a smile; a real one, not the bullshit he had just fed her mother out of courtesy. She was supposed to shake his hand and stay formal; it was tradition, a tradition that was hardly ever broken in their family. It was so rare that she couldn't ever remember it happening; she doubted that it had happened in her father's memory either. She was _supposed_ to shake his hand. She didn't. Before she could stop herself she hugged him. She heard her mother gasp at the break in etiquette. The hand that had been extended to shake her hand moved to her back and she could feel him laughing at the sudden movement. Besides, he was always open to an opportunity to break the rules; he hadn't planned on it tonight but went along with it.

"Thank God." She whispered more to herself than to him. Sirius was alive and they could all rest a little easier knowing that fact. James would probably cry; hell, she wanted to cry. She heard him whisper, "I'm okay. It's okay. We're all okay." And she hugged him tighter for a second at this and then finally let go of him.

"Danilynn—"

"I think we can make an exception to the etiquette for a moment, darling." Dany's father chimed in and her mom threw up her hands, completely resigning herself to her daughter, and her husband, being a wildling tonight. "Dan, you probably want to bring Sirius to the rest of your friends. Let me know if James cries from joy, just by the way." He said with a laugh. She grinned and hugged him.

"Thanks, Daddy." She said without thinking. Then she realized that no one from school knew that she had held onto her childhood name for her father except James, who didn't mention it upon threat of death. Did she regret holding onto it? No. Was it embarrassing? Hell yes. She quickly moved away from her parents, dragging Sirius behind her, trying to ignore that her cheeks were quickly heating up. He pulled her to a stop.

"Daddy?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"What? I'm a Daddy's girl. It's not like I can help it. It's what I called him as a little girl. I just held onto it." She retorted, trying to blow that over.

"So has Mom always been 'Mom'?" He asked, still amused.

"Nah, she became Mom when I was about nine. Mom and me don't always get along. Our house feels like a house divided sometimes, to be honest. Me and Dad versus Rae and Mom."

"Aw come on Dan, it's cute. Little Dany loves her daddy." He said as he batted his eyelashes at her. She ignored him and continued to lead him towards where she had left Lily and James.

"Lils and James should be around here somewhere…this is where I left them…but they're not here. Of course not." She said, throwing her hands in the air, "Sirius, you're tall; you don't see them do you?" He looked around, probably searching for Lily's hair.

"Um…I don't see—oh there they are." He winced. "Oh ouch, Evans just slapped him. Let's go, I hear the Lily-James train wreck from here." They shuffled through the crowd, Dany following closely behind Sirius, as she didn't know where they were going exactly. Eventually, they found Lily. She was standing next to a table, waving off some random guy that seemed very interested and wouldn't leave. She vaguely heard the redhead say something about going to find a friend; Dany supposed she meant James. Dany had no idea who the guy was. She walked over and raised an eyebrow.

"There isn't a problem here, is there?" Dany said, in a mostly pleasant voice. The boy turned around and his eyes widened.

"N—no. No problem." He stuttered. Dany glared at him.

"I wasn't asking you." She snapped at him. She realized she sounded very much like her father. She heard Sirius snicker behind her. "Lils? Problem?" Lily shook her head.

"Good. Now you, get. Go on. If I find you harassing someone else tonight, you're out. Got it?" Dany barked at him. The kid nodded and tried to get away as quickly as possible. Lily smiled at her best friend thankfully.

"Thanks. He wouldn't go away. It was like having a tapeworm." She muttered. "By the way, I wasn't going to find Potter. I was just trying to get rid of him."

"We figured Evans. I just saw you slap him." Sirius said dryly. Lily noticed that he was there for the first time.

"Oh my God!" She squealed and hugged him. He chuckled and hugged her back.

"I didn't know I was so popular with you two." He said. Lily slapped him on the arm.

"Oh shut it. We worry about you when you're home. We all do. We have no choice honestly. We all have to listen to Potter and Dany sit around chewing their nails and coming up with the worst-possible scenarios they can think of." She said lightly.

"Oi, you'd be coming up with them too if you'd ever met his bloody nightmarish parents." Dany protested. Sirius nodded in agreement in her peripheral vision.

"Alright, alright whatever you say, girl. I still think you have a bleeding heart for everyone you know…anyways, we probably should _actually_ find Potter; he'll want to see you." Lily addressed the last part to Sirius.

They walked around for a while until they stumbled upon James, who was looking rather dejected in a corner. Dany waved him down and he looked up and waved at her. Than he caught sight of Sirius and they had the most intense reunion between a couple of guys Dany had ever seen. There was even hugging involved. The two girls finally walked over when they thought it was safe. The four of them found a table in a corner and sat down, ignoring the place cards for now. Sirius sat between Dany and James and Lily sat on Dany's other side. James finally asked the question they all wanted to know.

"So you gotta tell me, how was it, this past few weeks without me?" James tried to joke. Sirius didn't bother trying to play along.

"How awful were my parents, you mean."

"Well, yeah. I wasn't going to be that blunt but whatever." James shifted awkwardly in his chair.

"Not horrible. It was just really boring. I was on essentially solitary confinement in my room the whole time. I've had worse breaks believe me. I did my work for school I was so bored." He replied dully. Dany watched him closely, looking for any indicators that he was lying to them. She found none and let it go.

"Come on, they're starting the music. Dance with me Lillian!" Dany laughed and dragged all three of them out to dance.

* * *

Lily had watched Dany disappear into the crowd of people to find Sirius and she was left alone with Potter. He had been nice for a while, and they spent some time idly chatting. Until he tried to make a move and she had instinctively backhanded him across the face. She had walked off and almost immediately wished she hadn't. She didn't know anyone here well enough to just start talking to them; even though all the children of the people at the party had been technically invited, most didn't bring their kids unless they were friends of the whole family or friends of the Masters children from Hogwarts. Lily was there because she was Dany's friend, James because his parents were Dany's Godparents, and Sirius and Regulus because their parents had literally no choice but to bring them. Of course, Rhaegar was around somewhere but Lily slightly feared the older teen, no matter how much Dany insisted that he liked her. She just couldn't shake the feeling that Rhaegar Masters was not one to be toyed with; not that she was planning to, but that feeling made it awfully difficult to talk to him, let alone approach him.

So instead of seeking out Dany's brother or going back to find James, she began to wonder, looking at all of the people Dany had pointed out earlier. She thought about Dany's different persona tonight. She was on her game: perfectly polite, remembering everyone's name and full of small talk. She hardly seemed like the same girl that Lily went to school with but then whomever she was talking to would walk away and all of a sudden Danilynn Charlotte was gone and Dany was back, grinning and laughing, making a smartass comment about whoever had just walked away.

Lily stood on her toes and tried to pick out her best friend. She found her pretty quickly by the door with her parents and brother. It appeared that Sirius had just walked over to them and Lily barely glanced Dany hugging him before someone bumped into her and she lost her view. She leaned up against a table, having no problem being alone. Unfortunately, she wasn't along for long. A guy, probably fifteen or so, walked up to her.

"Hey, you seem awfully lonely." He said and Lily got the distinct impression he very much wanted to remedy that.

"Oh, yeah my friend just went to the bathroom. I'm waiting for him so if you don't mind…" She said, hoping he'd take the hint. He didn't.

"Well that's not very polite of you." He said and Lily rolled her eyes and waved a hand.

"Seriously, get." The guy didn't move. Suddenly, another voice interrupted them.

"There isn't a problem here, is there?" It was Dany and she looked pissed. For one of the first times, she reminded Lily of her father and brother: all righteous anger and no fear.

"N—no. No problem." The guys said, clearly recognizing the silver-haired girl.

"I wasn't asking you." She told him dismissively. Dany turned to her. "Lils? Problem?" Lily shook her head.

"Good. Now you, get. Go on. If I find you harassing someone else tonight, you're out. Got it?" Dany kindly informed him. The kid practically ran off to get away from her.

"Thanks. He wouldn't go away. It was like having a tapeworm." She muttered. "By the way, I wasn't going to find Potter. I was just trying to get rid of him."

"We figured Evans. I just saw you slap him." Sirius said from behind Dany. God, Lily had been glad to see him. It was horrible but she always worried that one day one of them would get word that Sirius Black was dead.

The four of them had sat down and talked easily for a while until someone had announced that it was time for dinner.

"Alright, find your place cards guys. If you're not anywhere near me, I'll see you all after dinner. I have no idea how these things are set up, honestly." She said and wandered off, presumably to find her parents. Lily wandered with Sirius and Potter, checking the seats to see if they had come across their own. Dany was seated between her brother and father towards the middle of the room, laughing at something one of her family had said.

"Oi Evans, I found your seat." Sirius suddenly called out. Lily walked over and sure enough, there was a place card labeled _Lillian Evans_ between her parents names at the round table that seated eight about two tables away from where Dany was. She glanced at the other names and was very glad that she recognized one or two of the names from school. She wasn't very fond of Amos Diggory (no one was) but she'd take what she could get. She thanked Sirius and sat down as he and James kept walking about; she hoped Sirius and Potter would be close to each other, at least. The two were bloody nightmares on their own, with no one to entertain them. Lily's parents soon sat down and she began talking to them about the magical things in the room they knew nothing about. She was half-watching James and Sirius walk around, until suddenly Dany's mom waved James over.

Lily watched him walk over and talk to her momentarily. He asked her a question. She nodded. He said something else and she waved a hand dismissively. Dany entered the conversation and said something to Potter because he finally nodded. He also waved Sirius down and called him over. He walked over to where James was standing next to the Masters clan. James said something to him and he looked shocked. Lily was damn curious what was going on over there but decided that she also was quite glad to be here with her parents; for once she was glad to not be a part of the spectacle that Dany inadvertently was everywhere she went.

* * *

Sirius was really dreading dinner. He knew that people were seated closer to the Minister's family if they were close friends. The people closest to them were like family; childhood friends, godparents, and current friends were all seated adjacently to Dany's family. Then there were important Ministry benefactors, people who were considered to be the movers-and-shakers of the Wizarding World. And finally, there was everyone else: people that they were obliged to invite, those that they would rather not have very close to them but had no choice. He was quite certain he would be somewhere in the corner with his parents and brother, having a quite miserable time.

He found Lily's spot pretty close to where Dany was already seated. Then he and James started to wander around, occasionally checking tables.

"Man, these damn things get me every time." James grumbled. Sirius looked at him, amused.

"Who sits with them?" Sirius suddenly asked, noticing that there were four empty seats at the table the Minister and his family was at.

"It changes a little from year-to-year but it's usually Moody, one of Rhaegar's friends or something, sometimes my parents, but these past years it's been Ministry people, Daniel needs powerful friends in a time like this." He replied. Just then, Dany's mom waved James over. "Hold on, I'll be right back." Sirius nodded and looked around. It was like a less pretentious version of every Pureblood event he'd ever been to. Except the people were nice and he didn't particularly feel like he was being shunned or like his life was in danger. He looked at James talking to Rhea Masters. She was a pretty woman yet didn't resemble Dany at all except in height. She lacked the silver hair of her children and husband and had a head of dark brown hair instead. Where Dany had bright blue eyes, her mother's were a soft brown. They had different jawlines, cheekbones, noses, and even mouths; the youngest Masters was the spitting image of her father. James suddenly waved him over. Sirius walked towards them and when he got there, James clapped him on the back.

"I found our seats, bro." James said with a grin. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"That's great James…if you'd like to point me in the right direction that would be even better." He replied. Dany laughed suddenly. Sirius glanced at her and it struck him, not for the first time tonight, how different she looked than usual. Her eyes were still the same though, still laughing.

"Well, walk a couple feet to the right…one more step…alright stop. You're there." She said with a small smirk. Sirius realized that he had merely sifted over another seat. He glanced down and sure enough, _James Potter_ was next to _Sirius Black,_ which was next to _Daniel Masters_. Sirius looked at James like he had no clue what was happening, because he didn't. He noticed that James' parents were also at the table. They suddenly arrived and smiled at everyone as they took their seats. James and Sirius exchanged a look and with a small shrug they both sat down.

Sirius very much felt like he was in the hot seat. He was eating dinner next to the bloody Minister of Magic. Logically, he knew that it was just Dany's dad and he shouldn't be this freaked out but he couldn't help it. It was definitely more intimidating than if her dad had been in Magical Maintenance or something. James' mother was happily talking to Dan's mom and James and his father were also talking, about some relative that had gotten into some scandal or another. Dany and Rhaegar were happily chatting on their father's other side.

"You can relax, you know. I'm not going to bite your head off." A voice suddenly said from next to him. Sirius jumped, he hadn't been expecting the Minister to talk to him so abruptly, or at all if he was being honest. The sound of his voice took him off guard too; he didn't sound scary or powerful or gruff at all. He reminded Sirius of moments Dany had sounded the same way, nothing but earnest kindness.

"Oh, erm sorry…I just got caught up in daydreaming is all." Sirius replied and then realized he sounded like an idiot in all probability.

"Sure you were. Look, I'm sorry that this is how my wife decided to set people, I'm sure you guys would rather be off doing something that didn't involve talking to people more than twice your age." Daniel said. Sirius looked at him in surprise. For a moment he thought that he had looked up at Dany but realized her back was currently turned to him. The same blue eyes stared back at him and they were exceedingly nice and gentle. But Sirius knew from experience that Dany had a tendency to turn cold and angry quickly and suddenly her eyes would go icy; he suspected that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"Oh, it's no I have no problem with it. Honestly, as long as I'm away from my parents it's fabulous…out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know _why_ I'm sitting here, would you?" Sirius asked in what he hoped was a casual voice. Daniel laughed.

"My guess is that Rhea grouped you in with the Potters, not surprising considering that Dorea constantly talks about 'her boys' and how proud she and Charlie are of both of you. That and my daughter convinced me to let your family, who are generally not very nice, as I'm sure you know better than anyone, attend tonight solely for you; I figured I should at least talk to the boy that I was making all these exceptions for." He replied. Sirius was surprised at this. He was close to the Potters but he hadn't actually thought that Dorea considered him to be one of her own children. Not only that, but he hadn't known that Dany had been so forceful in her pursuit of his attendance.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you; I'm the boy you're making all these exceptions for." Sirius said awkwardly. Daniel Masters looked at him, somewhat speculatively.

"She cares for you greatly, you know. Good friends are hard to come by in this family; we seem to have a chronic problem with fame seekers and gold diggers. I really do appreciate you and all of the others treating her like any other shithead teenager." He said. Sirius saw what Lorenzo the tailor had been talking about; he loved his daughter more than anything else. They were very similar although Sirius had a bit of trouble seeing past the whole Minister of Magic thing.

"Oh, well she's a good friend; certainly better than I deserve. She's got quite the mouth on her too, but I'm guessing you knew that." Sirius responded. The Minister looked at him almost critically and abruptly changed the subject.

"So, I hear that you play Quidditch. James says you're a pretty good beater, especially for being so young. Most don't become decent until they're mostly done growing up."

"Dad, are you seriously talking Quidditch at the table right now?" Dany suddenly said, turning to look at her father, her conversation with Rhaegar long gone.

"Yes, Danilynn I'm 'seriously talking Quidditch right now'. Really Sweetheart, I'm just making conversation and we all know that no one in this house appreciates the great game like I do." Her father retorted. Dany rolled her eyes with a snort.

" _No one_ appreciates it like you do. I think you might even have James outdone." She said with a grin. Sirius watched on, amused by the banter and laughter that made the man he was sitting next to seem much more human.

"Last time I checked I wasn't the one who tried to ride a broom at six and then got so frustrated that she couldn't that she screamed so loud she broke all the windows in the house." Her father teased.

"Okay, it was an accident and I'm sorry that I'm not naturally gifted like some people." She said, her face turning slightly pink.

"I really think that's where your lack of enthusiasm comes from Dan; you're just mad that you can't play." Her dad laughed as she whacked him over the head. Sirius laughed at this and Dany looked at him, for the first time completely ignoring her dad.

"Hey, I never got to ask but how did your parents take to the Muggle clothing thing?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

"My darling mother threw a fit so big that it rivaled the one about me being sorted into Gryffindor, if that says anything." Sirius answered. Dany shuddered. It was well known how poorly Walburga Black had reacted to her heir being put in Gryffindor. As a matter of fact, "poorly" didn't even begin to cover it.

"That's shameful, being angry with your child over their house. The Hat hardly ever asks anyone to make their own choice and even if it does, it's still the child's choice to make, not their parents'." Daniel suddenly said.

"Aw, come on Dad if me and Rae had been Slytherin you can't tell me you wouldn't have been upset."

"I wouldn't have been thrilled but I wouldn't be throwing you out of the bloody house certainly; you're still my children and if _anyone_ tries to throw you _anywhere_ I'll beat them up." He said lightly, despite the impression that he was not kidding at all. Dany rolled her eyes.

"That's love right there, huh? See, Sirius this is what raised me; now you know why I'm such a nut case." She said with a wink. Her father looked affronted.

"You are no such thing. Your mother and I did a wonderful job with you! Granted it was a bit sketchy with your brother but we definitely knew what we were doing by the time you came around." He argued. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Well that's reassuring, I suppose. It does explain Rhaegar on a variety of levels though. The boy has never been quite right in the head. Did you ever drop him very hard? I feel like a lot of his personality comes from some kind of traumatic head trauma." She said mildly. Her dad laughed.

"Oi! I resent that. If anyone is whacked out of their brains around here, it's the both of you." Rhaegar protested and Sirius laughed. Dany whacked her brother over the head. And Daniel smiled slightly as he answered his daughter.

"No Dan, that's just how your mother was at sixteen. I suppose that's why they get along so well." Her father answered. Dany smiled at Sirius.

"God help the Ministry if he grows up to be like Mom. I love her, but she's kind of a soft person." She said. Her father looked at her keenly and Sirius got the impression that Rhaegar and Rhea Masters were close not only in name but personality; just as close and Danilynn and Daniel were.

"Hey, be nice now. She's still your mother and my wife. But yes…your brother needs to toughen up before he becomes Minister." Daniel admitted. Sirius raised his eyebrows; he was shocked that they were even talking about this in front of him or anyone else. "Sirius, do you have any idea what you want to do after Hogwarts?" He abruptly said.

"Oh, well I'm not really sure I mean we have plenty of time to decide, but if I had to choose today, I think I'd want to be an Auror." Sirius said uncertainly, never having given much thought to that.

"That's a noble job and a very difficult one. How are you in school?" Her father answered. Sirius had the feeling that this had just become an assessment of his abilities.

"Dad." Dany said warningly.

"Danilynn, I just want to see how he does in class, there's no crime in it." He told his daughter. "So Sirius, back to the original question."

"Oh, well I'm alright I guess. For a Third Year, at least. I'm miserable at Divination but I think that class is a load of rubbish, honestly." Sirius replied. Dany rolled her eyes from behind her father's shoulder.

"Alright? You're at the top of the class. I mean we're not even allowed to duel each other because no one ever wins." Dany added. At this, Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"You've dueled my daughter? Have you ever won?" He asked, his eyes glittering.

"Once last year." Sirius answered. "Most of the time we just end up going for so long that class ends and we have to leave."

"That's impressive. Dany has been taught to use magic during the summers ever since she got her wand. An exception was made because of the war and the target that the Death Eaters have placed on my family. Transfiguration?"

"Best student in the class, well tied with James but still." Dany answered, bored.

"Potions?"

"Good enough to ignore Slughorn and still pass." She said. Sirius was becoming mildly uncomfortable at this. He knew what these classes were: they were OWLs needed to enter Auror training.

"Charms?"

"I'm bloody rotten so I think everyone is good at Charms, honestly." Dany said.

"That you are, Sweetheart. Herbology?"

"I'm passable." Sirius interrupted Dany's rather accurate description of his academics. And she really was horrible at Charms. It just never seemed to click with her. "No, really. I passed out when we did mandrakes just because I didn't listen and forgot earmuffs." Dany and her father both laughed.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Sprout made James drag you all the way to the Hospital Wing by your ankles. That was before you two were frequent visitors to Pomfrey's end of the castle and people actually became worried when one of you was injured." Dany laughed. "Ah, you should have seen your face when you passed out. It was awesome." This didn't amuse Sirius. She hadn't shut up for almost a week when it had happened and he didn't particularly care to revisit that week.

"Visit the Hospital Wing much then?" Daniel asked.

"Oh um, yeah between Quidditch and the Slytherins I end up there every now and again." Sirius said, edging around the reasons hoping that he would accept that as an adequate answer. Sirius didn't feel like explaining to the Minister of Magic how he would end up in fights with some of his distant relatives because they were beating up an eleven-year-old girl or something. Unfortunately, the Minister was just as curious as his daughter.

"The Slytherins? You kids are getting each other laid up in the Hospital Wing now? When I was in school, the worst that ever happened was a tripping jinx on some Ravenclaw during my fifth year." He said thoughtfully. "I shouldn't be surprised, Hogwarts is really just the Wizarding World on a smaller scale." Sirius raised his eyebrows. A tripping jinx was just your average Tuesday walk to Potions.

"Yeah, the Gryffindors and Slytherins are really at each others throats right now…they've taken to picking on our First Years, actually; that's a lot of the reason we're all ending up under the care of Madam Pomfrey." Dany said absently, after taking a drink out of her glass. The comment didn't go by unnoticed.

"What do you mean ' _we're_ all ending up under the care of Madam Pomfrey'? Danilynn, if you've been picking fights, so help me." The Minister said slowly. Her eyes widened and she looked at her father frantically. Sirius guessed that Daniel Masters wasn't aware that his daughter was just as frequently injured as he was. Rhaegar looked up from where he was eating and winked at Sirius as if to say, 'you're going to want to see this; no one's joking when they say that they're alike'.

"I'm not _picking_ fights exactly…what am I supposed to do if I walk by some shithead kid beating up a First Year? Let it happen?" She argued with her father her voice becoming slightly louder. Sirius raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected her to swear in front of her dad. Apparently it was a common practice because it went unacknowledged.

"No…it would be too easy to grab a teacher right? Of course it would be. No one in this family ever does it the easy way. Well, if you have to, try not to get yourself killed and most importantly…" He said as Rhaegar looked up again and answered with his father and sister.

"… _Don't tell Mom."_ They said together with identical grins. The mother in question was still talking intensely to Dorea and didn't notice any of the conversation. Dany laughed and relaxed, knowing she wasn't going to rung out for something they all practiced; even Lily had gotten into a scrap or two in the last couple of months. Fortunately she had come out on top, and had managed to send one of the Malfoys to the Hospital Wing and had been given two weeks of detention under McGonagall as punishment. Sirius had become much fonder of the ginger after that particular incident.

"You kids should probably get back to your friends. It appears that Dear Lily is on the verge of clawing her ears off. Amos Diggory does tend to have that effect on people though; he's a nice boy but there's nothing he loves more than to talk about himself. It really can make one quite repulsive." Daniel said while looking a few tables over, where Lily did indeed look like she wanted to die, as he thoughtfully observed the crowd. "Ah, it appears that my wife was making a statement regarding your family tonight, Sirius." Sirius looked around, noticing that for the first time he couldn't see them. Dany started laughing abruptly and leaned around her brother to compliment her mother.

"Mom, I know I give you a hard time, like all the time, but seriously, that's amazing. Really, I applaud this on so many different levels. Ah, her face is hilarious." Dany said with a laugh. Rhea Masters tried to hide her smile.

"Thank you, dear; I did take some… _liberties_ with the seating arrangements this year. And yes, she does appear to be a bit put out, doesn't she? Oh no, she's looking this way." Her mother replied and both women looked away from what they were watching.

"I don't see them…" Sirius trailed off, still looking around while attempting to be discreet. Dany grinned.

"Look a little to the right of Lily…then look back, to the left of that guy with the green hat on." She said, still trying to stifle her laughter so she wasn't being completely obnoxious. Sirius finally found his parents and he immediately understood what Dany's father had been talking about; while Regulus and his father looked like they really couldn't care less about the seating arrangement, his mother looked livid and Sirius understood why. They were seated towards the very back of the room, almost pressed against the wall and by themselves. Sirius accidentally caught his mother's eye by staring and she looked _pissed_. He could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking about the fact that while she and her husband were pushed into the corner, Sirius, their "blood traitor" son, was seated next to the Minister, talking to the entirety of the Masters family like they were all life-long friends. There was going to be hell to pay but for the first time in what seemed like forever, Sirius discovered that he really didn't care what the repercussions of his actions would be, as far as his parents were concerned, at least.

* * *

James was having a great time. His best mate was here and so was the girl he was in love with. Not to mention that his Godparents and Dany. God, he thought, Lily looked so beautiful tonight. She was absently listening to Amos Diggory three or so tables away from where James was seated and she looked very much like she wanted nothing more than to slap the Diggory boy's head into the table. It just made James like her more. Truthfully, he could never express how grateful he was to Dany for convincing her parents to allow the Blacks to attend tonight. He glanced at Sirius and he was talking to the Minister, who seemed to be enjoying the younger man's company. James couldn't say he was particularly surprised; Sirius was a good guy and generally if Dany got along with someone, so would her father. It was Rhaegar and Rhea that would differ in opinion from the father and daughter; they were different at their cores and even though they were all fundamentally good people, they just would never agree on some things.

Dany was talking to Sirius and her father and James thought she looked different tonight. He had seen her at a dozen of these things and she had never been glowing like she was now. Even her hair seemed brighter than it normally was and her smile was just a little bigger. He supposed that she was happier than usual and it was just shining out of her. His best friend looked different too, but that was probably because James wasn't used to the change in clothing. He seemed more relaxed and at ease than James had ever seen; the only times he was like this only lasted seconds normally and left so quick he usually wandered if he was seeing things.

Once dinner was over, the dancing started up at around 10. Dany and James dragged Sirius and Lily onto the dance floor, being much more accustomed to the situation. Lily laughed and followed her friend and the girls started dancing together and laughing at how horrible they both were. Sirius was more obstinate.

"Man, I don't dance. I'm bloody horrible at it." Sirius protested. James rolled his eyes. Everyone here was horrible at dancing.

"I don't think you've realized just how bad everyone else is…seriously if those two," he gestured to Dany and Lily still dancing as horribly as possible, "aren't enough evidence, look around." James replied with a grin. He watched Sirius look around at everyone horribly dancing, except for a few people who actually knew what they were doing. James was aware that Dany was intentionally dancing horribly and in a super dorky way; she was actually pretty good as long as she actually tried. He omitted this to Sirius and simply let him believe that they were all just as bad as he was.

"I don't know, mate…" Sirius said slowly. Just then Dany and Lily looked up at them.

"You two suck! Come on!" Lily yelled at them over the fast dance music. Dany laughed and grabbed both of them and dragged them completely onto the dance floor. They both followed, James willingly and Sirius much more hesitant. Dany and Lily went back to dancing and laughing. "What's wrong with him?" James heard Lily say to Dany. Dany glanced at Sirius, who still looked incredibly uncomfortable, and shrugged.

"I don't know…James, what's up with him?" Dany said, changing her attention to James momentarily. James shrugged and decided he was going to out Sirius' dancing fears to the girls.

"He doesn't like dancing. Says he's bloody horrible at it." James said, trying to be heard over the loud music. Dany rolled her eyes. And turned her attention to Sirius after relaying what James had said to her friend.

"Come on, you can't be _that_ bad. You have to be better than Lily, honestly." James heard Dany say to him. They all had to stand really close to be heard over the music and she was practically shouting in his ear. James was shocked he could even hear them at all. "Besides, who cares? My parents? My dad puts everyone to shame each year with his interpretive renditions of the classic sprinkler and shopping cart moves, so definitely not them. You have no one to impress here…come on!" She said and James laughed at her mention of her dad's dancing. Daniel really was an unabashedly horrible dancer, despite actually being decent like his daughter was. It was always a form of free entertainment. Dany was still trying to get Sirius to dance and was having slightly more success than James had. Eventually she convinced him to at least move a little rather than just stand there looking awkward. James told him he didn't even look constipated when he did this.

Around 11:15, Dany motioned them over to part of the room where, sure enough, her father was attempting to "break it down" like he did every year. Rhea was in the corner talking to James' mom, Dorea, who looked highly amused, despite her companion looking horrified by her husband. Daniel motioned to his daughter and Dany laughed and joined her father. She danced with him for a little bit in their classically horrible way and he spun her around a couple of times before the music slowed slightly and they actually started trying a little. James smiled; like always any kind of dance that the father and daughter did was highly unscripted and also sweet and heartwarming. Dany motioned to her brother and mom, who begrudgingly started to dance a little. Rhaegar danced with his equally unenthusiastic mother for a few minutes but it was Dany and her father that really seemed to be enjoying the form of ballroom dancing that James' own parents soon started doing. The Minister and his daughter still reminded him of a little girl dancing with her daddy.

"She looks like she's about six." Sirius said abruptly from next to James. James glanced at him and saw he was watching them move around the room, between other people.

"She always does when she's with him. What everyone says about her being his favorite is true; just how Rhaegar is their mother's favorite. Even though we're growing up and we're in a war, which her father is leading, she'll always be his little girl." James answered him. Eventually Dany and her broke apart with a quick hug and Dany wandered over towards them. Lily was talking to her parents on the other side of the room and so James was able to fully concentrate on his Godsister and not the love of his life.

"Hey guys, y'all are looking pretty bored. It's only 15 minutes until midnight, you know." She said to them. They both shrugged.

"Well as we all know, Sirius isn't a dancer and I can't exactly leave him here alone. I'm going to head to the bathroom, you mind babysitting?" James said with a wink. Dany laughed and shrugged. James slowly walked away and circled around the room, not actually going to the restroom. Dany had it for Sirius _bad_ and James wasn't even sure that she was aware of it yet. He had shoved them together on impulse to see what happened. They talked for a minute and then it appeared that he finally relented and let her lead him to the dance floor. She said something else to him and he shook his head. She put her hands on her hips and Sirius nodded. She grinned, visible from where James was watching them, and they started up some form of ballroom dance that actually was pretty competent. Dany was talking and occasionally he would abruptly change directions, taking her with him. Dany would say something and he would laugh. James suspected that she was trying to discreetly point people out to him and was relaying stories that she had heard from her parents and even her brother.

James checked the time and saw it was only a couple of minutes until midnight and suddenly the music turned off and everyone looked at the clock. James pushed through to Dany and Sirius and seconds after he arrived by their sides so did Lily.

"It's been a good year, you lot." Dany grinned as she turned her attention back to the clock. 30 seconds until 1973. James considered kissing Lily but thought better of it under the sharp look Dany gave him with a short headshake. 10 seconds.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1! Happy New Year!" The entire crowd shouted. Couples all over the room kissed including, James noticed, both his and Dany's parents. He caught sight of Orion and Walburga Black who looked like they very much wanted to leave. They all hugged, no one feeling courageous enough, or wanting, to kiss. Dany hugged him and James laughed and hugged her back.

"Happy New Years, darling Godsister." He said. She grinned and hugged Lily, who hugged her back intensely before letting go and saying something that James didn't quite catch that made Dany laugh. James and Sirius did a typical man-hug including one arm and some form of shoulder contact. Lily hesitantly shook hands with James and hugged Sirius kindly, but not very close. Neither of them looked very comfortable. Dany hugged Sirius too, much more comfortably than Lily had, and he hugged her back and said something. She pulled away and grinned. Her smile quickly vanished as she looked past him. James followed her line of sight and caught a glimpse of Walburga Black walking their way. He and Lily moved closer to where Dany and Sirius were standing, not like the Third Years could really do much in an emergency.

Then, out of nowhere, appeared Dany's father. James wanted to walk right up to Daniel Masters and hug him for having such good timing. Walburga's face pinched slightly but did not walk away from where the Minister had just appeared next to her son.

"Sirius, we need to leave now. We have plans tomorrow morning, after all." Sirius' mother said and somehow that sounded incredibly menacing. James saw Dany glace up at Sirius, clearly worried and not believing what his mother was saying. Sirius nodded and suddenly looked rather closed off, like he didn't want his parents to think he was actually _that_ good of friends with any of them. Daniel interrupted.

"Mrs. Black, you certainly have a great son here. It was quite the delightful accident that my wife put him with the Potters tonight; I truly enjoyed his company at dinner. He's more than welcome at my home any time. And Sirius, if you're still interested in the same career path in a couple of years, I can put you in contact with the right people. It was nice to meet you, Son." Daniel said with a handshake to Sirius and a simple nod to his mother. Sirius smiled at James and they quickly guy-hugged again and Lily smiled at him saying that they'd see him back on the train. Dany fully hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her toes to be high enough to do so. He hugged her back tightly, one of his hands moving to her hair and another to her back; it was oddly intimate, James thought as he saw Sirius say something into her hair softly, much more gently than anything else James had seen him do in day-to-day activities; the boy was a regular bull in a china shop. She faintly nodded James guessed that she said something back because she let him go, returning to being flat-footed.

"See you soon, mate." James said and then they all watched him walk away from them with his parents, Regulus trailing behind. James' own parents showed up a bit later and received a much better welcome than the Black matriarch had.

"We're going to have to get on home; we've got company from work coming over for brunch and we'd all like to get _some_ sleep before the Aurors descend on the house. It was really great this year, you all." James' dad said and everyone nodded, Rhea thanking them for the compliment. All of the Masters, as Rhaegar and Rhea had come over minutes before, hugged all three Potters (James noted that Dany was not nearly as enthusiastic as she had been when she had hugged Sirius; probably because she wasn't worried about him dying within the next week, he reasoned). Lily shook hands with both of James' parents and smiled awkwardly at him and eventually hugged him so quick that he wasn't quite sure that it had actually happened.

James followed his parents out of the front door and they all Apparated back home. Before James collapsed into bed, he thought, _this is going to be one hell of a year._


	4. A Sunrise Made of White Lies

**Disclaimer: JKR is Queen**

 **Hey guys! So this is the day after the party (it's very heavy on Sirius' point of view) and it's the last chapter before we head back to Hogwarts for the real drama to get started!**

 **By the way, this fic is lined up to be pretty long and will take Lily, James, Dany, and Sirius at least through graduation.**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

 **Essie**

 **P.S. I felt bad for doing this to poor 13 year old Sirius but alas, there has to be _something_ going on**

* * *

 _Late that night she got away_  
 _I chased her to the turnpike_  
 _Then lost her where the music never plays_  
 _And though I rolled upon the stones and fell into the water_  
 _I'll love her till my judgment day_  
 _Like a sunrise made of white lies_  
 _Everything was nothing as it seems_  
 _I was shot down in cold blood_  
 _By an angel in blue jeans_

~ _Angel in Blue Jeans,_ Train

* * *

Dany watched the last guest leave at almost two in the morning. She yawned and pulled off her heels as soon as they were out the door. Rhaegar immediately excused himself to bed and her mom went to get a shower. Dany and her dad walked up the stairs together.

"He's a nice kid, Dan." Her dad said at the top of the stairs. Dany looked at him. "He's certainly not what I expected and he's certainly not a product of the Black family, not really. I know I was skeptical but here's your 'you were right, I was wrong'. Really, you have a good friend with him." Dany hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for letting him come, Daddy. We all worry so much when we're not at school." She said softly. Her father hugged her back and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I know you do, Sweetheart, I know you do…he cares for you greatly, you know. I fear that your friendship will have consequences that no one can imagine. A Black and a Masters loyal to each other is unheard of and they will think it's dangerous; it _is_ dangerous to them, you know. Friendship, loyalty, love are all things that put people like Sirius' parents in jeopardy." Daniel said to his daughter.

"Why?" She asked simply.

"Because friendship and love are stronger than the fear they try to use to control people. Would you betray your friends, any of them, to Death Eaters, even if you thought you were going to die if you didn't?" He asked of her. She shook her head immediately. "Exactly. Now go to bed, Dan; it's been a long night." Her father said after he kissed her on the forehead. Dany started to walk away from her father when he said, "Oh, and I really did mean it dear; you looked beautiful tonight and he thought so too." Dany looked at him, smiling but also confused at the last part.

"Thank you, Daddy. I love you." She said as she walked away.

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Goodnight." Her father said before vanishing around a corner. As soon as Dany entered her room, she took off her dress and slung it over the back of her desk chair as she tossed her shoes onto the ground, glad to be rid of the torture device shoes and itchy dress. She changed into one of her father's old t-shirts and pajama pants and glanced out her window, overlooking the currently snow-covered yard. She guessed that James was very likely doing the same thing and Lily was back in her home, safely asleep and dreaming. What Sirius was doing at that same moment worried her; she knew that neither Walburga nor Orion would receive the slights from tonight well and would probably take it out on their son. She thought about what he had whispered into her hair just before he left. "I promise I'll come back. It's okay. I promise you." She crawled into bed, trying to get some sleep reminding herself that it's okay.

The next afternoon, the first signs of life appeared in the Masters' home around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was Rhaegar that was awake first, having probably fallen asleep first. The noise from his shower woke up his sister who was only two doors over. Dany blearily checked the clock next to her bed and put a pillow over her head with a groan. Bloody Rhaegar and his showers. Having her loud brother living next to her was something she didn't miss when she was at school. At least the girls attempted to be quiet. She sighed and pulled herself out of bed to find food. She tracked down a bagel and cream cheese and was done with half of it when her brother came downstairs.

"I hope you had a nice shower." Dany grumbled at him. He grinned and pulled out some cereal and sat down next to her at the kitchen table.

"It was delightful, thank you for asking. That's very considerate of you, Danilynn." He said lightly. Dany rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. He merely laughed. "So no Mom or Dad yet?" Dany shook her head.

"No, I know Dad went to bed around when I did and Mom showered last night so she probably didn't actually fall asleep until around the same time. They might still be a couple of hours." Dany replied, still eating her bagel.

"Hey, speaking of, I heard you and Dad talking last night when I was on my way back to my room from the shower. What was that all about?" Her brother asked in what he clearly thought was a casual voice.

"Well Rhaegar, I _do_ tend to talk to my parents on occasion. You should try it sometime." She quipped and her brother raised an eyebrow.

"I heard the end, Dan. Whom was he talking about?" Her brother pried.

"What when he said that I looked beautiful? I don't know, he never said." Dany shrugged. Trying to push away her suspicions to prevent her crush from getting even worse. Her brother clearly didn't buy that his sister was completely clueless but let it drop nonetheless.

"So, I see what you mean about James being completely mad for Lily…I think he was starting to follow her like a lost puppy, honestly." Rae said with a smile. Dany laughed and thought about how true it was.

"I told you! I feel so bad for him; he's completely in love and she wants nothing to do with him. I understand where she's coming from though…James can be a right ass to some people." Dany replied, finishing her breakfast.

"You have to admit it's kind of funny, Dan." Her brother said with a grin. Dany laughed.

"Yeah…it's actually pretty hilarious. I spend half of my time at school listening to both of them complain about the other. If it's not 'That toerag Potter won't leave me alone!' it's 'Lily will never love me and I will be alone for the rest of my life, pining after her'. It's bloody awful! It's a miracle I ever get anything done, really." Dany replied, laughing. It really was strange to hear two people talk about each other non-stop. Her brother looked at her thoughtfully.

"Sounds…strange yet also incredibly boring. By the way, you know Mom is going to wring you out when she gets up for that little misstep you made last night." He casually said. Dany froze. The hug. She had completely forgotten that she had broken an unbroken tradition of formalities. Shit, he wasn't kidding. Her mom _was_ going to kill her.

"Well on the bright side, she can only kill me once." Dany said with the voice of one walking to the gallows. Rhaegar laughed.

"I don't know…she might bring you back just so she can kill you again for your little quip at Orion Black." He told his horrified little sister. She groaned and put her head in her hands.

"I'm so dead. I'm officially done for. It's been a pleasure, it really has…why do I have an inability to listen to the rules?" She said with her hands still over her eyes.

"Aw, it _might_ not be that bad if Dad gets to her before she can get to you. He's the softie around here, after all. And you know how he is; nothing is more important than friendship…and love." Her brother said. Dany's head snapped up.

"What did you just say?" She asked, her voice becoming noticeably louder and sharper.

"Aw, come on Dan. I see how you look at him. Besides, you've never broken any kind of tradition or relatively important rule before, at least not in front of Mom or Dad. You literally couldn't stop yourself, could you?" Her brother said slyly. Dany felt her face turn red.

"Please don't tell Mom or Dad. As accepting as they are, that wouldn't go over well."

"Hey, I'm not saying anything to anyone, but don't think that means I approve…because I don't. He has a sketchy past and an evil family; you could do better Dan." Rhaegar said, not joking at all. Dany looked at him critically.

"You know, Mom and Dad would both say not to judge someone solely on the things they can't control. He couldn't pick his family or how his childhood was. Lay off, Rae."

"Alright, alright whatever you say. Out of curiosity, who else knows?" Her brother said, looking generally displeased with his sister's choice in crushes. Not like she could control it, she thought. If she could bloody control it, none of this would be an issue because she would just go on her happy way with a nice platonic friendship. She said none of this to her brother.

"No one else knows; at least that I know of. James might have guessed but I haven't said anything to him or anyone else." She said instead, judging her brother's expression.

"Good. Keep it that way; everyone knows that Dad would do anything for you, even at risk to his own life. Sirius Black is leverage the Death Eaters don't know they have living under their own roof." Rhaegar said and Dany realized how right her brother was.

Sirius lived with them; they had complete access to him for three months of the year. If Walburga or Orion smelled something fishy, they would run straight to their buddy Voldemort. Then the threats would come. Everyone would tell her father to let the Black boy die; everyone from his advisors to his friends to his own wife and son would tell him the same thing: the child of Death Eaters was not worth risking so much for. Charlie, Dorea, and James would be devastated but that wouldn't sway the Minister enough to ignore council from so many people. It would be his daughter; it would be her to change his mind. She wouldn't have to do or say anything, but Daniel Masters would not let Sirius Black go, simply because his daughter cared for him and he couldn't bear to do that to her. The Minister would comply with Voldemort for his daughter's happiness. All of this was on the verge of possibility, teetering on the edge of becoming reality, and no one knew it.

"Yeah…I just can't really control it, you know? I don't even really know when it started, to be honest. Why can't I have a crush on some random dorky Hufflepuff whose parents are shopkeepers or something?" She groaned, wishing, not for the first time, that she could pick lower maintenance guys. _Of course_ she had to have a thing for the black sheep of the Black family. _Of course_ she did.

"Don't be _too_ hard on yourself, Dan. You're right, you can't control it, but at least try to be mindful of it. Besides, you'll grow out of it eventually." Her brother said. Both siblings abruptly looked up as someone could be heard walking down the stairs. Dany flung her head back in her hands, waiting for her mother to come into the kitchen and snap her head off for being 'so disrespectful and unrefined last night'.

"Good morning, you two." A definitively male voice said and Dany sighed in relief. It was just her dad. Her dad who had no plans to kill her for her 'uncouth' actions.

"Hey, Dad." Rae said through a mouthful of cereal.

"Morning, Daddy." Dany said, picking her head up out of her hands. She looked at her father as he sat down in his usual chair and he grinned at her.

"I see you're waiting for your mother to get up, Dan. I love her to death, but that woman really _is_ a stickler for tradition, isn't she?" Their father said with a laugh. Rhaegar waved his spoon in the air as he replied to his father.

"Of course she is; she should be. Traditions are just that, Dad; they're _traditions_. They're intrinsically made to not be broken." He argued. Dany rolled her eyes but said nothing. She wasn't getting in the middle of the father-son argument that was on the horizon.

"True…they are meant not to be broken, but I've found that there's usually a circumstance that calls for a break in tradition, no matter how rare that situation might be. Would you not agree with that?" Her dad said, clearly humoring her brother. Rhaegar hesitated; he clearly hadn't expected their father to admit that traditions were not meant to be broken.

"I can agree with that, but you can hardly say that last night was an exceptional circumstance, can you?" Rhaegar argued, still clinging onto hope that he wasn't completely in the wrong in their father's eyes.

"I agree with you on that; last night was not abnormal in many ways." Dany and Rhaegar both raised their eyebrows. Their father hardly ever took his son's side, or anyone's side for that matter. They were both unsurprised when he continued. "However, I don't think you understand how much danger Sirius Black is in when he is not at Hogwarts. Your sister, Lily, and James worry for him greatly, and they have every right to; Walburga and Orion Black are neither accepting nor loving. Even towards their own children, they cannot help but be cruel and inflict pain. You cannot imagine the relief they all felt when they saw him alive last night; you cannot understand and nor can I, not until we have lived it." Their dad said softly. Dany raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that sort of lecture from their father. He was usually very laid back and relaxed with most things with his children. He hardly ever took a clear stance on points of contention in the household, allowing his children figure it out on their own or simply letting them agree to disagree, whatever the case may be.

"But still, all of this over the Black heir…it just seems like misplaced worry." Rae protested.

"He cannot control his family. He was given a lot in life and he simply was not as fortunate as you both were; to be born into a family that loves you and supports you is a privilege that not everyone one has." Their father replied, not raising his voice or looking annoyed or angry with his son.

"Dan said you'd say that actually. It's because you two are connected on some weird spiritual level." Rhaegar said and the tension broke as soon as Dany laughed in agreement.

"It's just because I'm smarter than you are, Rhaegar." She retorted, "Not everyone can be as perceptive as yours truly." Their father laughed.

"Ah, my two children…someone help us all when you two take over your mother and mine's positions." Both kids laughed and nodded in agreement. If Rhaegar didn't marry before he became Minister, Dany would take over for their mother if she so chose, as the second-in-command at the Ministry. _That_ was a tradition that was never broken. They all looked up when more footsteps started to walk down the stairs and they all groaned, knowing that they'd just be rehashing the argument that they just had finished. Rhea Masters walked into the kitchen wearing her lecturing face.

"Danilynn Charlotte Masters—"

"Don't start." Dany, Rae, and their father all said in unison. She looked at them all curiously but said nothing.

* * *

Lily woke up the morning, well the afternoon really, and stretched out her muscles that were sore from the heels she had been standing in all night. She got out of bed and sincerely wished that she had bothered to shower before she had gone to bed last night. Her dress was thrown onto her desk, her heels were in a corner and the makeup she hadn't bothered to take off was smeared all over her face and pillow.

"Fantastic. Bloody fantastic." She muttered as she looked in the mirror, eyeing the mascara that had smeared down her left cheek. She pulled the pillowcase off her pillow and left it on her bed, planning on brining it downstairs with her later. She pulled her pajamas off and got in the shower, thinking about last night. Dany hadn't been kidding; it had been one hell of a night. She didn't think that the Yule Ball could ever really match up.

There had been so many people there. And they had all been of some importance. Lily had read of many of them in her textbooks, and heard people talk of the lineages of the families that had been present. It was an understatement to say she had felt quite different from almost everyone there. People like Dany and Sirius and James belonged there; people with long, rich family histories of wealth and power. But at the same time, she had felt very included, like she had nothing to fear or be intimidated by. Daniel and Rhea were eternally pleasant and Rhaegar, though scary, was somehow a reassuring presence. Maybe because he looks so much like his sister.

Lily scrubbed her scalp with her nails, feeling the hairspray start to finally come out and wash down the drain. Damn, Potter's dad looks like him, she thought to herself. It was uncanny, really. He certainly seemed nice enough and his mother, Dorea, seemed like a lovely woman. Dany had always laughed and said, "James may be a right ponce Lils, but his parents are lovely. Really, I don't know how such a bratty boy came out of that marriage." That was usually when Potter would jokingly shove her and she would laugh and push back. Despite Lily having a long and varied list of issues with Potter, he was Dany's Godbrother and she was eternally fond of him and treated him very much like she treated her blood brother.

The ginger finished her shower and got dressed quickly, taking her pillowcase downstairs with her. She checked the time: 1:30 in the afternoon. She walked downstairs to see that no one but Petunia, who hadn't attended the party last night, was awake; for her part, the eldest Evans sister muttered, "freak" and left the room with a sniff. Lily rolled her eyes. It had been almost three years since she had received her Hogwarts letter and her sister still hadn't gotten over it. Dany had always maintained the position that Petunia was simply jealous of how much better than her Lily was. Lily had always found this quite flattering yet remained doubtful of her best friend's theory nonetheless.

"Good morning to you too, Petunia." Lily muttered long after her sister had left the room.

She walked to the laundry room and threw her pillowcase in and then went to find something to eat. It was…lunchtime she supposed (after checking the clock and decided it was too late for breakfast) and started looking around her cupboards. She found some leftover potato salad and settled on that. She heard the front door slam and figured that her delightful sister had decided to leave the house and go see her grossly overweight boyfriend. She seriously doubted that Petunia would be letting Vernon go that easy; he was so boring it made Lily want to cry, which is exactly what Petunia liked.

Lily's parents finally came downstairs an hour or so after she did and they all discussed the previous night.

"Really, I had no idea that there were so many things that wizards have different solutions for than we do."

"Yeah, Dad. We have all kinds of spells and charms to do things that appliances and machines do in the Muggle world. I'd show you if I could use magic at home." Lily told her dad.

"I honestly didn't know how important Dany's family was…did you have any idea, Lily?"

"Yeah, I knew…Mom, her dad is essentially the magical Prime Minister. Her brother is probably going to take their dad's job within the next 10 or 15 years…they've led the magical community since, well, since forever." She said and all of a sudden, her mom's eyes lit up.

"I saw James Potter there. He's a cute boy, you know…he seems nice, Lils. Where's your big hatred of him coming from? He definitely loves his Godsister and that friend of his." She asked her daughter.

"James is…he can be really nice, like he adores Dany and he certainly cares about Sirius, I mean they're practically brothers. But he also tends to bully people…like you know Severus, right?" Both her parents nodded an affirmative, "Well, he kind of picks on him…a lot. They have an unspoken kind of hatred and it wouldn't be such a big deal if he weren't so much better at dueling than Severus is. He just mercilessly beats him in front of almost the entire school. Of course, Dany does nothing to stop him, she has no love for Severus and is James' Godsister and neither does Sirius, because he despises all Slytherins purely on principle alone. Remus and Frank sometimes half-heartedly try and Peter does nothing. I just…have a hard time with that fact. I can be cordial for Dany's sake, but he's definitely not my favorite." Lily told her mother, who listened to her daughter's uninterrupted thoughts and nodded thoughtfully.

"You're all still so young…he might still surprise you yet. What was the Diggory boy talking about at dinner? What's this war that he mentioned?" Her mother said. Lily winced. She hadn't told her parents about the war; she had been hoping to let them live oblivious for as long as possible, within the realm of possibility. She wasn't lying per say…she just didn't bother to mention it at home.

"The war? Yeah it's kind of a big deal in the Magical Community at the moment…I was going to tell you if it got any worse than it is now, honestly. It's nothing for you guys to worry about; you're not magical and it's not your fight." Lily tried to skirt around directly saying what the war was about. Because the truth was if her parents found out that Voldemort was after Muggleborns, they'd have a hemorrhage and she wasn't sure if her mother's heart could make it through anything more stressful than a bad growing season for her tomatoes.

"What's this war over? Is it a civil war?" Her father asked keenly, not falling for his daughter's vague answer.

"Yeah, it's pretty much civil war." Lily said, trying to tell them as little as possible.

"Lillian. What is it over?" Her father said again, this time with noticeably less patience.

"Okay, so there's this guy, he goes by Lord Voldemort but most everyone is too scared of him to say his name so they all say 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. And he…never mind, there's a better way to explain this. So there are some families, Pureblood families with all Wizarding blood, that think they're 'the superior Wizarding race' or whatever and this guy, Voldemort, is kind of going militant with that idea. He's essentially going after anyone who isn't a Pureblood." Lily said as quickly as possible, hoping that her parents wouldn't notice the implications. They noticed.

"People like you, you mean." Her father said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah…Muggleborns and half-bloods are on the top of his list…but the Ministry is fighting against him, trying to take him down before he can start genocide. That's why Dany's dad is so important; because he's the greatest hope the Ministry has. Their entire family is our greatest hope for salvation. Daniel, Rhea, Rhaegar, and Dany are all people that Voldemort would love to get his hands on." Lily said softly.

"You're joking. You accidentally became friends with one of the most sought after people in the war?" Her father asked disbelievingly. Lily nodded.

"You say his name." Her mother said softly.

"I do. And so do Dany, Marlene, Alice, James, Sirius, and Remus. Frank and Peter don't though. I don't see how not saying his name will make anything better. People are just hiding and by not saying his name it makes it easier to pretend that none of this is real and nothing bad can ever actually happen to them. Besides, Dany's dad always tells us that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself. He doesn't deserve all of this fuss to be made over him." Lily replied. Her parents exchanged a look. Neither of them were sure where in the family Lily had picked up her bold, courageous streak but it sure looked like she'd be needing it sometime soon.

* * *

If someone bothered asking Sirius if it had been worth it, going that night, the morning after he probably would have said yes. Likewise, if someone bothered asking Sirius if he'd would like to black out and die, just to get rid of the pain, he probably would have said yes again. The threat of the Minister's wrath had passed for Walburga and Orion, and as far as his parents were concerned they now had carte blanche to deal with their child however they saw fit. The Minister and his family had seen him and he had been healthy and well; now no one would see him for another week. No one but his crazed parents and passive brother. His mother was livid. Sirius honestly wasn't sure what it was that had happened that night to make her so mad.

She had seemed irritated when she had come to retrieve him but by the time he finally had walked away with her, and his father and brother, she was downright furious. They had Apparated back to Grimmauld and as soon as they walked in the door, she slapped her oldest son across the face. He had winced slightly but had said nothing, even when blood started to ooze down his cheek from where her engagement ring had cut him. He was still wrapped up in where he had just been and whom he had been with.

Even if his parents were terrible and barely human, there were other people who cared for him. James, Dorea, and Charlie had greeted him like family and called him "brother" and "son". Even Lily, who got along with James on a temperamental basis at best, had been thrilled to see him. And Dany had clung onto his neck before he had left, whispering, begging him to promise that he'd come back. How small she was had surprised him; she was short, and they all knew it, but she wasn't just short. For the moment he had hugged her back before he left, she had felt tiny, almost breakable, like he could snap her in two if he hugged her back too hard. And when she had let him go, he had seen the concern on her face; she knew there was going to be hell to pay and he'd have to pay it. He found that he didn't particularly care what his parents had to say on the matter of his friends.

But the happiness he had felt when he was at the party, surrounded by his friends, was long gone. He had been tossed in the basement as his new bedroom for the rest of break and by the next afternoon, he was pretty sure he had at least three broken ribs, from being literally thrown into the basement, and maybe a concussion because nothing in the basement particularly wanted to stop spinning all morning. He sat on the ground up against the wall and prodded his head. He couldn't find any blood so he dismissed the concussion and decided that it was probably hunger and dehydration instead, which was simultaneously better, because he didn't have a fractured skull, and worse. You could go a week without food if you had to…but water? He guessed that was closer to pushing the limits of possibility. Eight days was about the maximum that just about anyone had survived without water, he was pretty sure and seven was getting a little too close to being dead for his liking.

Damn, everything bloody hurt, he thought to himself. He checked his ribs by poking them experimentally and winced, pulling back a slightly bloody hand. Great. Not only broken ribs, but the skin's open in some capacity. This is a one-way street to some horrible infection he thought absently. Suddenly, the door to the basement opened and he hoped for a wild second that Dany had gotten a wild hair up her ass and had convinced her parents to authorize a raid on the house. Unfortunately it was his mother that entered, not an Auror or ministry worker. He looked up at her in the dim basement from where he was sitting. She still didn't look particularly happy with her oldest son.

"Sirius."

"Mother." He said back, wishing she'd just get on with it and not bother trying to talk to him. He'd rather her just pound his face in than listen to her run her mouth about how she likes to kill people in her spare time. It made him nauseous most of the time.

"Tell me about these friends of yours." She said and Sirius felt his mouth drop open in shock.

"What?" He said dumbly. That was like her asking to go on a lunch date with Dorea Potter. It would never happen. Except it just did.

"Don't make me ask twice, boy. Tell me about them." She said and he got the distinct impression she didn't want to be this civil and was waiting for a chance to become her usual monstrous self.

"What do you want to know?" Sirius responded, cagily.

"I don't know…what about Danilynn Masters?" And then Sirius got it. She was digging for info on the Minister. Like hell he was going to give it to her.

"Dany is none of your business." Sirius said shortly and his mother didn't take to this well.

"She's a close friend."

"She is. And I'm not outing her entire family to people who would love nothing more than to butcher them in their sleep." He snapped. Walburga Black raised her eyebrows.

"You care for her."

"We're friends…that's what I just said, isn't it? Friends generally _do_ care about each other, not like you'd know anything about that. She's none of your concern." He snapped again.

"You insolent brat. You would pick a blood traitor over your own family." She said, slapping him in the face for the second time in the last twelve hours. His head snapped back and hit the brick wall and he saw black spots appear in front of him. He guessed that if he hadn't had a concussion before, he definitely did now. "That's what she is, what they all are, you know. Blood traitors. They can't even betray their own people over something worthwhile. Those silver-haired monstrosities are starting all this fuss over some dirty mudbloods." His mother goaded him. He tried not to rise to it; he had a promise to keep and hitting is mother wasn't a good way to do that.

"Go to Hell, woman." Sirius said and even he heard how tired he sounded.

"It appears that I've been going about this wrong for years…physical punishment won't do anything to you. You don't care about yourself. Your only sense of self-preservation comes from them. You try to stay alive because you know how your death will affect them. The real question is what would happen to _you_ if something happened to one of _them_?" Sirius froze. He knew what his mother was suggesting. It was 'let's talk about all the horrible ways your friends could die' time. It was like a sick game to her.

"Don't." He was ignored. His mother was on a roll. She was punishing him for how he had behaved last night. And now he refused to say anything regarding Dany or her family, which further fueled the fire.

"Where to start? How about with the mudblood girl? Lily, is it? Pretty girl, too bad she's essentially filth. Or how about with Potter? That family is one of the greatest disasters in pureblooded history…or how about with little Dany Masters? The Minister's _precious_ daughter?"

"Stop." He snapped at her again but she continued to ignore him, apparently enjoying having found something that he had a real soft spot for: his friends.

"It's her, isn't it? Evans is a good friend and you think of Potter as a brother but it's the Masters girl that really gets to you. I saw you last night; you couldn't keep your eyes off of her."

"She's not that important. More than anything she's just James' Godsister. She doesn't matter to me." Sirius said, trying to bullshit his way out of having to listen to all of the horrible ways his mother would enjoy killing his closest girl friend. She laughed at this.

"You're such a liar and you're not even good at it. Your thoughts are louder than you can imagine. You can't stop replaying it in your head, that hug she gave you. You can still feel it. You can still feel her arms wrapped around your neck. It's all you've been thinking about. I can hear her in your mind, you know; 'promise me, Sirius. Promise me that you'll come back.'" Her voice took on a mocking tone that sounded nothing like the girl she was mimicking. "And you did, didn't you? You promised her that you'd come back to them…ah yes what was it? Oh, here it is, right inside that hollow little head of yours. 'I promise I'll come back. It's okay. I promise you'. That's sweet of you, especially for a girl that's going to be hopping beds until she's thirty."

"Enough." He said and he realized that his hands were shaking. He tried to quiet the thoughts, calm them down enough that he didn't want to snap his mother's neck. Unfortunately, she ignored his warning.

"Surely you have to know by now. All the women in that family are whores; can't stop themselves from spreading their legs—" Sirius' self-control finally snapped and he suddenly stood and pushed his mother into a wall, getting in her face. Even at thirteen, he was as tall as his 5 foot 10 mother. Being a beater had made him strong, something his mother had forgotten. He didn't miss the flash of fear in her eyes that went as quick as it had come.

"Shut your mouth." Sirius hissed at her, no more than 6 inches from her face. She raised her eyebrows, trying to look in control even though her teenage son currently had her pinned up against a wall and was seriously considering strangling her. Suddenly realization struck her across the face. Sirius felt his stomach twist; it was never good for anyone when his mother had a moment of revelation.

"You're in love with her. You're in love with a mudblood-loving whore. And I thought you could go no lower. And you _really_ love her…there's no puppy love in your head; it's the real deal, isn't it? That's why you didn't try this little stunt earlier; you promised her that you'd come back to her." His mother said softly and finally he hit her. He hadn't only hit her because of the shit that was spewing out of her mouth, but because she had been right. He had promised to come back to school, but he had also promised to come back to her. As soon as his hand connected with the side of his mother's face, he knew he was done for. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was a single word: crucio.

Sirius groaned and felt his eyes try to open. After a minute of struggling to wake up, he finally opened his eyes to the unfortunate sight of the ceiling of his family's basement. He carefully tried to move all of his limbs, one at a time and had relative success, so at least he wasn't paralyzed. He slowly sat up, wishing that he was still passed out on the ground and looked down at the damage.

Everything looked relatively the same except for the giant crimson stain that now covered his shirt all across his chest. He still had on the shirt from the party, no one bothering to let him change, so he slowly unbuttoned it and saw that there were now two crisscrossing cuts across the left side of his chest. Someone had taken great care to make sure that he wasn't actually killed but that there would undoubtedly leave scares. When the lines healed as best they could, he was almost positive that it would be in the shape of an X across his heart. His mother wanted him to never forget the talk they had just had. Sirius' one consolation in regards to this was that she was far away from his parents, safe in her childhood home, under the best protection the Ministry could offer and money could buy.

Sirius looked back down at his chest and shivered slightly. He was in a basement in January; it was cold as shit down here, and he was bleeding everywhere. Dany might be far away, but he sure wasn't. It was going to be one long, hellish, week.

* * *

James was bored out of his bloody mind and he swore to himself that this was the last time he would wear a suit until he had graduated Hogwarts. He was sitting in the living room with his family, waiting for his parents' friends and coworkers to arrive. He checked the time. 5 minutes. It wasn't that he didn't like having his parents' fellow Aurors over, he actually found what they had to say quite interesting, but it was that every time that they began to talk about anything of relative importance, he was shooed out of the room to sit in the Kitchen until they were done.

It was infuriating. This was his world and his war too. He at least deserved to know what was going on.

His parents didn't see it that way though, so James received his best information on the war from Dany, whose parents were much more willing to keep her informed of the Wizarding World's situation (well, her father was, at least. James suspected that Rhea had no idea that her husband was speaking to his daughter about the war). He supposed that Daniel figured that he and/or his wife could be killed any day, leaving their children as the last of the Masters line and at the helm of the war. They should at least know what they were getting into before it was too late for anyone to tell them.

The bell rang and James heard the house elf go and answer the door. They didn't used to have a house elf, but his parents had hired one because there had been a disturbing spike in Aurors being killed as they opened their front doors. Seconds later, Sally the house elf entered the room with Florence Miller trailing behind her. She was a kind woman with brown hair streaked with grey; he wasn't stupid enough to ignore the steely look in her eyes though. She vaguely reminded James of his own mother. She was a close friend of both the Potters and the Masters'; so close that Florence Miller was named Rhaegar's Godmother.

"Ah, Dorea, Charlie. A pleasure as always…James Potter you've grown at least five inches since summer." She said, hugging all three of the Potters. James grinned at this; he knew he'd probably never pass up Sirius, but he was aiming to at least be taller than Remus, Frank, and Peter.

"Hey, Florence." James said, "It's good to see you. How's the job treating you?" He asked.

"Same as always these days…psychotic blood supremacists trying to kill perfectly good people, and we're still hunting down and locking up the psychotic blood supremacists." She told him honestly. James knew that she thought that his parents were in the wrong by trying to shelter their son.

"So essentially the usual?" James replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, pretty much…how was Moody last night? I was sorry that I couldn't make it, we got a call right before I left the office." She asked all of them. Dorea raised her eyebrows.

"Anything to worry about?" She asked her friend.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary; just some low level Death Eaters having some fun in London…Normally I would have sent someone else and not gone myself but Alastor and the others had been working on the Masters' place all day and were still there…so me and a couple others handled it." She said with a shrug. Both of James' parents relaxed. Florence was an incredibly talented Auror and had been in training with his own parents more than twenty years ago. She was Moody's partner on the job, even though they had some trouble getting along outside the office. Normally when she was called out, there was reason to be highly concerned. "So, how was the old man?" She laughed. James grinned but said nothing.

"Didn't see him for more than five minutes, to be honest. He was on the clock pretty much the whole night I think. Daniel tried to get him to take a load off but I don't think he listened. Then again, he never does." James' dad said with a shrug.

"He didn't sit with you all at dinner?" Florence asked. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, effectively interrupting the conversation and preventing anyone from answering her. Moments later, Sally reentered the room, this time with Amos Diggory's father, Noah, behind her. He was very much like his son. Arrogant and pretentious were the best two words James could think of to describe him. James just thanked his lucky stars that the Auror hadn't decided to bring his son with him. Everyone despised Amos Diggory. Florence shook his hand and James' parents greeted him, starting a conversation with him. James went to stand next to Florence.

"How's your friend, James? The Black boy." She asked him softly, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

"He was okay as of last night…Dany convinced her dad to let him and his family come to the party. Needless to say, Walburga and Orion Black didn't get a very warm welcome. He sat with us at dinner, that's why Moody wasn't there. Rhea put him with us. That and Moody was probably in 'constant vigilance' overdrive with known Death Eaters being there." James answered her. The older Auror raised her eyebrows.

"He looked okay? Nothing seemed off?" She asked. Florence had been searching for _years_ for a reason to toss the Blacks in Azkaban. She had come up with nothing solid in the past decade and was becoming more and more hell bent on it as time passed.

"Nothing more than usual…at least not regarding his parents, so nothing you'd be very interested in." James said with a shrug. Something was always off with the Blacks but tragically nothing was ever wrong enough to warrant an arrest.

"Oh, see now I'm interested. What happened? Fill me in on the drama." She said with a laugh. James really enjoyed Florence's company. She was probably forty-five but never missed an opportunity to catch up on the gossip in James, Dany, or Rhaegar's lives.

"I don't know…it was probably just my imagination, honestly…"

"James Potter you can't get me interested like that then back out of the story." She said with a frown. James smiled a little and thought about how to phrase it.

"Okay fine. It was just kind of weird is all. It's Dany…well he couldn't stop looking at her." James said carefully, "It was just out of character for him is all."

"Anything else?" She asked, looking interested and slightly amused.

"Yeah, I mean they were both just kind of acting funny. Like you should have seen her when he left with his parents; she was beside herself, bloody hugged him so hard around the neck I was a little worried she might choke him…and the way he hugged her back was _different_ , out of the ordinary even. You've never met Sirius but trust me when I say that he's about as subtle or quiet as a box full of fireworks. But when he hugged her back, it was so…gentle; he put a hand in her hair and one on her back and it seemed really intimate, I guess is the word I'm looking for. It kind of felt like we were all intruding on something. It was just _so_ different than usual. I mean I'm just going crazy, right?" James said, pushing out all of his observations at once, as quickly as possible. Florence didn't give him an answer.

"Aurors trust their instincts, you know; it's what keeps us alive. What do yours tell you?" She asked him softly. James thought about it for a minute and went with his first thought on the matter.

"Well…definitely wasn't normal 'hey you're my friend' behavior. It seemed more, well just more _everything_ , really. And I saw his mother's face after that and she looked less than impressed with her son, I know Sirius saw too, but he just seemed like he didn't care what his mother thought. I mean if I knew that I was going to be at Walburga Black's whim for the next week, I wouldn't exactly be loving on the Minister's daughter. I think that he cares for her, like _really_ cares for her." James said quietly, finally putting his thoughts into perspective and order. Florence nodded.

"It certainly seems so. It also appears to me that she cares for him a great deal, as well." She replied. James groaned.

"Why? Why did he have to pick my Godsister of all people? And of course she had to have feelings for the most dangerous one in our entire friend group." He muttered.

"James…the heart chooses blindly and on its own, regardless of circumstance. She might see in him something we don't _because_ of his past. Dany Masters is an exceptional young woman. She is everything that he never had as a child: light, hope, justice…these are not things to be taken lightly. And like her father, she unequivocally believes in redemption. Surely it's not so hard to see why the child of Death Eaters would be drawn to her." She responded softly. James thought it was rather funny that Florence Miller, an unmarried, single woman who had long given up on marriage or kids, was just like most other women; she was still a hopeless romantic.

"Alright, if you insist…it's just weird is all." James replied, shrugging.

"It's not just strange…you say Walburga Black saw this?" James nodded, "She will not take kindly to her son's affections towards anyone not of her choosing, let alone a Masters. What he sees as beautiful, that she is of the light, his parents will see as dangerous; and they have every right to fear her. She is a powerful witch and when she is older, she will inspire an entire people…There is nothing Death Eaters fear more than one of their own standing next to her as she unifies all wizard-kind once more." Florence said softly.

"I hadn't thought of that." James responded.

"I wish no one had to, but we do…ignoring these facts is simply a risk we can't afford to take right now."

"What do you mean 'she will inspire an entire people'? What about Rhaegar?" James asked suddenly. Florence's eyes widened and James got the distinct impression that she hadn't meant to say that.

"Oh, did I say that? Of course I meant Rhaegar too, I just was talking too fast, my mouth got ahead of my brain again." She laughed and James watched her carefully. She was lying. Granted, she was very good at lying, her job required her to be, but she was trying to push this one out from between her teeth. Florence shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and suddenly James' father called over to him.

"James, why don't you go check on Sally? Just to make sure that everything is going alright." James rolled his eyes but left like his father asked, closing the door behind him. Instead of checking on the elf, he pressed his ear to the door. He only caught a few words.

"…Fatalities…looking for info…tell Daniel…survive?" James felt his blood run cold and went to check on the house elf.


	5. Riptide

**Disclaimer: Not mine (tragically)**

 **Hey guys! So we're finally on the Hogwarts Express! This chapter is pretty heavy on Sirius, mainly because he's not in too good of shape at the moment.**

 **Oh and I personally love Lily and James together so I'm going to be shoving them together and all kinds of things, just by the way.**

 **Anyways, enjoy! (and don't forget to review)**

 **Essie**

* * *

 _Lady, running down to the riptide_  
 _Taken away to the dark side_  
 _I wanna be your left hand man_  
 _I love you when you're singing that song and_  
 _I got a lump in my throat because_  
 _You're gonna sing the words wrong_

~ _Riptide_ , Vance Joy

* * *

"I'm up! I'm up! Rhaegar Nathaniel if you spray me with water one more time I'm going to bloody kill you!" Dany screamed at her brother as she rolled out of her, now soaking, bed. Rae ran out of the room, narrowly missing the boot that his sister threw at his head as he vanished around a corner. "Asshole!" She shouted down the hallway. Her father walked by.

"Language, dear. Now go get ready to leave." He dryly said with a quick wink. She smiled at him, still tired and walked into her bathroom to shower. She shivered slightly under the running water. It was freezing here and it would be no better at Hogwarts, which was also in Scotland. Eventually she warmed up and got out of the shower and quickly dried her hair before she dressed in jeans, leather combat boots, a long sleeve shirt and slung her trench coat over her arm. She pulled her trunk out into the hallway and down the stairs, leaving it by the front door, tossing her jacket on top. She walked into the kitchen to find that she was the last to arrive. She scowled at her brother and he merrily smiled back.

"You're welcome for waking you up on time, Dan." He said with a smile. She threw a piece of toast at him. It hit him on the nose.

"Well I'm not thankful that I got sprayed with water, _cold water_ mind you, in the middle of a sub-zero climate." She responded and their parents looked amused. They all quietly ate breakfast and their father checked the time. Five minutes before they were supposed to leave. Before Dany and Rae were supposed to leave. The Minister and his wife couldn't go to the platform anymore, their lives were too in danger there. They would say their goodbyes from home. They all slowly walked towards the entryway to the house, where the children's things were sitting. Rhea hugged her daughter after both siblings had put on their coats.

"Be safe…and don't forget to eat three times a day. And for the love of everything good in the world, stop getting in detention. I love you, Dan." Dany hugged her mom back.

"Love you too, Mom. I promise to make sure Rae eats enough." She mumbled against her mother's shoulder. She glanced over to where her brother was saying goodbye to their dad and he grinned at her. It was a running joke, no one had to make sure Rae ate enough, he ate enough to feed a small town; he just had a fast metabolism. Dany's mom released her and went to hug and fuss over her son. Daniel Masters looked incredibly sad. Dany hugged him tightly and she felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Dany…your mother wouldn't approve of me telling you this but the war is getting worse. Things at Hogwarts are going to get worse before they get better. I want you to promise me something, Sweetheart. I want you to promise me that you'll keep those friends of yours close. You all are in danger. We all have to die one day, but the least we can do is leave behind one hell of a story. Go write yours." He whispered into her hair. She nodded a little and hugged him tighter.

"I love you, Daddy. Promise me you'll stay safe. Promise me you'll still be here when we come home for break." She whispered into his chest.

"I promise." He said back, "I love you and knock 'em dead, Sweetheart." She released her father and together, she and Rhaegar walked out the front door. They walked down the driveway and once they passed through the wards, she took her brother's hand and he Apparated them to King's Cross.

They appeared in the middle of a group of people who didn't even to notice their appearance. Dany released her brother's hand and together they walked towards Platform 9 and ¾. Once they were through the barrier, they both looked around and Rae almost immediately found his friends.

"See you at school, Little Sister." He said with a quick wink and then vanished into the crowd. Dany looked around for a few minutes and didn't see anyone she recognized. Suddenly, a set of hands grabbed her around the waist from behind, causing her to yelp and briefly wonder if she was being abducted. She turned around and saw it was just James and she laughed and hugged him. He hugged her back quickly.

"Miss me?" He said and she nodded. She hadn't seen anyone but her family since New Years and it would be an understatement to say that they had all almost driven each other crazy.

"You have no idea. If my brother woke me up one more time with a nice shower of freezing cold water from his wand, I was going to murder him in his sleep." She joked. She greeted Dorea and Charlie warmly and they greeted her in return but then quickly left, probably going back to work now that their son wouldn't be left alone. James and Dany wandered around for a bit and soon came across Lily. She tackle hugged Dany and smiled slightly at James.

"Lils! I want to hear all about this boyfriend Petunia has! You _have_ to fill me in on the Petunia-Vernon love saga!" Dany told her. She had become quite addicted to hearing stories of the world's dullest couple told by, at least in her opinion, the world's most entertaining ginger.

"I honestly don't even know where to start…those two, ugh they actually make me nauseous they're so boring and compatible. That's not what love is supposed to be. You're _supposed_ to be incompatible and make each other crazy! If you were supposed to be compatible they'd call it 'convenience' and not love. " Lily said with an eye roll. Dany nodded in agreement. She would bloody kill herself if she ever were with someone just like her. James watched them, amused.

"Is this really what girls do in their free time?" He asked dryly. Both of them laughed and Dany pinched his cheek.

"Oh please, we all know you boys gossip like the old ladies you are." She retorted and James looked scandalized.

"We do no such—guys. Guys, look." He suddenly said, interrupting himself and pointed to somewhere behind Lily and Dany. They both turned around and saw the unmistakable face of Orion Black, taller than most of the crowd and easy to spot.

"Orion. That must mean…" Lily said softly. The three of them stood up as tall as they could (Dany and Lily weren't much help seeing that both were shorter than most of the crowd) and tried to start picking out the faces of the Black family.

"Wait! Oh, no that's just Bellatrix again, it's not Walburga." Dany muttered a few minutes later.

"It should really say something if you keep getting mistaken for a middle-aged woman and you're only like 15." James said absently.

"Are we talking about my cousin? Bella _does_ really look like she's about 40, doesn't she?" A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and saw Sirius standing no more than 5 feet away from them. They had been so busy looking far away they hadn't noticed him walk right up to them. They all stopped frantically scanning the crowd and smiled at him. Dany and Lily both examined him critically, and they were sure he didn't miss it happening. He looked worse than he had on New Years; Dany could have sworn he was skinnier, his skin was an unhealthy color of greyish yellow, and he looked like he hadn't smiled in about a thousand years, let alone laughed. Dany also caught the flash of pain as James clapped him on the back. Something was broken, her gut told her; a rib, an arm, _something_ wasn't right with him.

"Good to see you, man. I'd ask how break was but…let's leave that in the past, huh?" James said. Sirius nodded and seemed about a twenty times more reserved and subdued than he had been before they had left Hogwarts three weeks ago.

"Hey, Sirius. Good to see you." Lily said softly with a genuine Lily smile that you couldn't help but smile back at. Sure enough, he smiled back, but it still seemed wrong, forced even.

"Hey, Evans. I see you're just as ginger as ever."

"I'm not a ginger, I'm a _redhead_." She corrected with a grin. She hated being called a ginger and they all knew it. Dany chuckled at her immediate response.

"Hey, Dan." He said tiredly and she smiled back and hugged him _very_ gently, in case something was actually broken. He hugged her back with more force than she expected from someone who had barely had spoken more than two sentences since he had shown up. She gasped for breath for a moment as he squished her unprepared lungs and hugged him back but still was trying not to accidentally hit something that was injured. He released her and she took a step back, her lungs screaming for air.

"Hey, Dan…what's that on your jacket?" Lily said suddenly gesturing to the tan coat she was wearing. Dany glanced down and immediately started touching her own face and neck. There was blood on her jacket.

"I'm not bleeding am I?" She asked her friend. Lily critically examined her friend's face, neck, hands, and even her collarbones for any signs of injury, shoving aside the neck of her shirt and jacket.

"No, you're not bleeding." Lily said slowly.

"Not unless it's from an invisible injury." James added on. Dany suddenly looked at Sirius, who had fallen completely quiet.

"That's because it's not my blood…is it?" Dany said quietly. Lily and James looked confused but Sirius shook his head slowly. The other two looked at him and they both understood.

"Oh. Well in that case, I suggest we all get on the train and find a nice quiet compartment all the way in the back where no one will disturb us." Lily said briskly and they all gathered their trunks and loaded them onto the train. They had yet to see any of the others (Peter was still on holiday and would be Apparating directly to Hogwarts) so they found a compartment, the second to last, on their own. Sirius, for his part, looked like he was going to pass out by the time they sat down. They all pulled off their jackets on the warm train.

"Sorry about the jacket, Dan." Sirius said hollowly. Dany waved a hand.

"It's no problem, I can get it out later." She said. "Now, when are you going to tell us where it is exactly that you're bleeding from?" She said with a raised eyebrow and Sirius looked like he'd rather just bleed out than say anything.

"Mate, if you don't tell us I'll start taking your clothes off until we find it." James said, looking like he'd rather not strip his best friend down to his boxers but he would if he had to.

"James…is this really necessary?" He groaned.

"Yes." All three of them responded simultaneously.

"Fine…but only because I don't want to sit around naked…it's probably my chest again. Maybe my stomach."

"Maybe?" James asked critically.

"Yes, James. Maybe. _Everything_ bloody hurts so I can't exactly give you specifics on which part is currently bleeding." Sirius snapped at him. James looked mildly offended by the cruel tone that none of them had ever heard come out of his mouth before. It reminded Dany of his mother.

"Sorry I asked…won't happen again." James said quietly. That had 'James' feelings are hurt' written all over it. Neither Dany nor Lily said anything. Sirius looked at both the girls who were staring at him reproachfully. He groaned and closed his eyes.

"Shit, I'm sorry James…it's been one hell of a week is all. After you've lived a week where someone's sole purpose is to torment you, it kind of leaves you on edge." Sirius said softly. James nodded.

"It's okay man, but please let us help you." James replied. Sirius looked at him and smiled slowly. Then suddenly his eyes moved down to the ground, where they stayed fixed.

"I don't think that it's worth it, you guys…" Sirius started as he shook his head.

"We just want you to be in one piece is all." Lily said softly. He seemed still to be apprehensive and kept his eyes trained on the ground. James and Lily both glanced at Dany as if to say 'say something'. She tried to think quickly.

"Sirius…you're no good to anyone this injured, yourself included. No one here is going to hurt you, I promise. Hey, look at me." She gently said. Slowly, he looked up at her and she forced herself not to break eye contact with him. She was pulling out everything that either of her parents had ever taught her on persuasion. "I don't want to see you hurting like this, and neither do they. Please let us help you." She said with a soft smile. They stared at each other for at least fifteen or twenty seconds, saying nothing. Then suddenly he nodded. Dany saw both Lily and James raise their eyebrows at the same moment the train began to move. Dany relaxed. `James clapped her on the back.

"Masters, my hero." He said with a grin.

"Thank God you said yes, I think my eye was going to start twitching from making that much nonstop eye contact." Dany joked and Lily grinned and even Sirius smiled a little. "Alright, let's see the damage." Dany gestured to Sirius who slowly took off his jacket and Dany saw where the blood had gotten on her jacket. Even through the bandages, Sirius' chest was still bleeding onto his white t-shirt. He stared at them like he expected them to do something.

"We can't do anything through your shirt, you do know that right?" James said. Dany whacked him over the head.

"Hey. Go easy, James. Don't make me tell your mother." Dany told her Godbrother. Sirius ignored the banter and Lily helped him out of his shirt gingerly. As soon as he was out of his shirt, he seemed to draw into himself even more, if that was possible, Dany thought to herself. He moved away from Lily as best he could and looked like he would rather them all leave. James tried to move towards him but he moved away from his adopted brother too.

"Man, is there anyone you _will_ let near you? Someone's gotta take a peek under those nasty bandages or this is pointless."

"Seriously James? Rude much?" Dany asked him with another eye roll.

"Sorry." He muttered. Sirius didn't say anything but Lily got the idea that it wasn't going to be her.

"I'm going to wait in the compartment behind us. Fewer people in here's probably better anyways." She said and the redhead vanished from view. James looked at Sirius hard.

"So you don't want me near you…you want Dan to do this?" Sirius didn't give him a straight answer.

"James, no one wants to do this, it's disgusting. Believe me, I'd know seeing that I patched this up all on my own. She doesn't want to do this." He said, still avoiding the question. Dany had the distinct impression that he wasn't going to _ever_ answer.

"I think I can decide what I do and don't want to do on my own. And I do want to help you. I don't have to, but I want to." Dany said softly. Finally Sirius relented.

"Fine…just try not to judge too hard, okay?" He said and he sounded very much like a small child. Dany nodded.

"I don't judge. James, why don't you go give Lily some company next door? Just _please_ don't try to ask her out, okay? She isn't going to say yes." Dany said. James nodded and left the compartment, leaving Dany and Sirius alone.

* * *

Lily was sitting in the last compartment in the train on her own when suddenly, the door slid open to reveal James. Lily looked at him.

"What happened? Where's Dany?" Lily asked him curiously.

"Dany's trying to patch him us as best she can. Lucky that her parents taught her and her brother basic healing, you know Minister's kids and all." James said with a shrug, sitting down opposite her. "He didn't want me there. It must be pretty fucked up for him not to want anyone to see." James murmured, mostly to himself. Lily had to admit he was probably right; they lived together 9 months of the year and Lily doubted there was any part of Sirius that James _hadn't_ seen.

"No one except her." Lily said. James looked at her.

"Okay, this is going to sound totally crazy, but do you think that maybe—" James started.

"Dany has a thing for Sirius? Absolutely. Thank goodness someone else sees it. The other girls thought I was going bonkers." Lily finished for him. James looked at her like she was crazy.

"Wait, Evans. I was going to ask if you think maybe _Sirius_ has a thing for _Dany_ …not the other way around." He said slowly. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"What? You're joking." Lily said. James shook his head.

"No, I'm not joking at all…after the ball, I was just wondering if you saw it too. He's never said anything about it but it just seemed like it was there." James said. Lily thought it over. It made sense. Besides, who _wouldn't_ like her beautiful and talented best friend?

"She's never said anything to me either, I've just had a hunch is all. Well here we are, thinking that our best friends like each other." Lily laughed.

"Well this just took a random turn. Who knew?" James responded. Certainly not me, Lily thought.

"Should we be the official 'get Dany and Sirius together before we graduate' team?" Lily asked, smiling. Not that she particularly cared for Potter, but his best friend made her best friend happy and that was what mattered right now to her.

"I think we should be. It would be good for them, for both of them." James said, glancing at the wall that separated them from Dany and Sirius. "On an unrelated, and slightly less complicated note, how did your parents like the party?" He asked. Lily was momentarily taken aback.

"They thought it was great. Dad's always been so interested in magic, ever since we found out I was a witch. And Mom was really interested in all the people; she's like that though. She loves people. All people." Lily said with a smile, thinking about her parents.

"You have a sister too, right?" James asked. Lily realized that this was the longest he had ever gone without asking her out.

"Yeah…Petunia is, well she likes all things ordinary and Muggle. She despises everything magical…including me." James raised his eyebrows but didn't interrupt. "Dany always says it's because she was jealous of me but I don't know about that. She's the older sister, I should be jealous of her. Except I'm not…her job is dismal and her boyfriend looks like an overweight walrus!" Lily exclaimed and then realized that she probably shouldn't have said that at all, let alone so loud. James burst out laughing.

"An overweight walrus? Oh, you've got to let me see this guy sometime. That's truly fantastic. What's so bad about her job?" James asked after he got over the fact she had just called her sister's boyfriend a fat, blubbery animal.

"She works as a secretary at a drill company…drills are a type of tool Muggles use to build things by the way."

"I know what a drill is, Lily." He interrupted dryly.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure because well, Purebloods. Anyways, she works as a secretary at a drill company and that just sounds so…unfulfilling, I guess would be a good word for it. I would never want to do that, it just seems like you're not helping anyone. And with the state that _we're_ all in right now, I just feel like pushing papers all day is so…so _insignificant_ , you know?" She said, finally admitting why she had always held disdain for her sister's occupation. James nodded.

"You feel like you have a higher calling?"

"Yeah…that's a good way to put it, I think."

"Lily, don't take this the wrong way but if you, the brightest person in our class, decides to become a secretary in a drill company that will be the greatest loss of potential that I've ever heard of in my entire life. And I'm friends with some really disappointing people. Like Peter, for instance." James said in a completely straightforward voice. Lily was rather flattered because he sounded so honest.

"I never asked but what do your parents do? I'm always curious about Wizarding jobs." She asked, trying to change the topic from her magical abilities.

"Oh, they're Aurors…an Auror is—" he started off but she interrupted him.

"I know what an Auror is, James." She said with a smile. He grinned.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure because well, Muggleborns." He said, echoing her from minutes before. "Anyways, they're Aurors. They work right under Alastor Moody."

"Oh, what's it like? Being an Auror, I mean. Not working for Moody. _That_ sounds like a nightmare if you ask me."

"Oh, they really love it. They've been at it for, oh about twenty years now. Right now it's pretty dangerous, you know with the war and all. But they do a lot of good and save a lot of lives. According to Dad there's no better feeling than seeing a Death Eater you caught being sentenced to life in Azkaban. I wouldn't know myself, but I'd like to one day." James said thoughtfully. Lily nodded and found herself actually enjoying the conversation and not wanting to kill him.

"You want to be an Auror?" She asked.

"Yeah…I mean my family have kind of been in the business since forever and when Rae and Dan take over the Ministry, someone's gotta be ready to back them with some muscle." James laughed.

"You know, I kind of forget sometimes; that Dany is going to be essentially running the Ministry with her brother one day, I mean. It's kind of intimidating, honestly." Lily admitted. She frequently felt overshadowed by her best friend's last name. "I mean it's not her fault that she was born into a particular family, but it just feels like sometimes when we walk into a room together, no one hears anything else after they hear her last name."

"It can be hard to deal with, I know. I had a difficult time with it when we were kids. Believe it or not, she doesn't like it either, that's why she hid her hair for so long. At least she had until she introduced herself to be anonymous. She might as well have her name tattooed on her forehead now." James said. Lily raised her eyebrows. She had never put much thought into why exactly Dany had gone to such lengths to hide her hair. It made sense though, her hair was practically white; it drew attention. She supposed that perhaps Dany got sick of all of the attention sometimes too.

"Yeah…I never thought about it. I would get sick of it too, to be honest." Lily said absently, trying to imagine what it would even be like to have lights constantly on your life. She couldn't fathom what that would be like.

"Yeah…and Lily? Don't ever think that your best friend overshadows you. You're amazing on your own, you know." James told her and she found herself surprised that she really believed that he was being honest and 100% genuine.

* * *

Sirius was terrified of her coming near him. She'd be so disgusted with the nastiness the open wounds his mother had left on his chest had become. At least his ribs were mostly healed. Last he'd seen his chest, it was still open and infected. It still hurt like a bitch too. But he wasn't going to let Evans near him, as much as they were friends that was a little too close for comfort. And James…he loved him like a brother but random discussions of emotion didn't really fly with him. So here he was, shirtless and covered in bandages on the Hogwarts Express, alone in a compartment sitting across from Dany. She looked like she was trying to think of a good way to go about this.

"Do you mind if I sit over there next to you?" She asked. Sirius shook his head, saying nothing in hopes of keeping his 'breakfast' down. Not like he'd actually had anything of substance all week. She moved over and sat next to him. "Are you okay with me taking that off?" She gestured to his chest and what was left of the bandages. "I'll do my best to make it painless." She added on hopefully, when he gave no indication either way. He finally nodded. She put one hand on his good shoulder, opposite the actual wound and started to work the fingers of her other hand under the tape and tried to get it off his skin. At least she had warm hands. They sat there for a little while as Dany tried her best to get the tape off. Sirius was doing his best to simultaneously ignore the pain in every part of his body and ignore the fact that Dany currently had both of her hands on his chest and was exceedingly close to him, her hair brushing his elbow occasionally when her head moved. It was difficult to ignore both mainly because there was nothing else to think about. Finally, she let go and pulled off the half-hearted dressing on the wound that probably needed medical attention the same day it had happened. She looked at it critically and pushed her hair back and out of her face. Sirius waited for some kind of horrified reaction but he got none.

"Uh, Dany? Are you okay over there?" He asked slowly when at least five minutes had passed and she hadn't moved. She tore her eyes off his chest and looked him in the eye, blinking.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about the best way to go about this…I can get the infection out, I'm almost positive…but I don't know how to heal this without it scarring. One of my parents probably could do it, but it's beyond me." She said, biting her lip as her eyes flicked back and forth between his eyes and his oozing chest wound.

"I don't really care if it scars, if that's what you're worried about. As long as I don't die or look mangled, I'll be okay." He said half-hopefully. She nodded.

"If you're sure about the scarring… I have no idea what the original injury looked like because of all of the swelling and the, uh, puss. I can't tell you what it will look like." She said. Sirius shrugged.

"I don't care either way. Besides, there were really only like 2 cuts originally. They just didn't do so well healing in the dirt with no food." He said and then clamped his mouth shut. Shit. She wasn't supposed to have heard that.

"Okay, I promised myself I wasn't going to ask you how you got hurt but I _am_ going to ask what your parents they thought they were going to accomplish by starving you. Damn, I knew you looked thinner. I'm never wrong." She said, now examining his whole body. It made him rather uncomfortable. Not only was he being scrutinized but he also happened to like the girl quite a bit who was currently looking him up and down. She pursed her lips and said nothing else.

She pulled out her wand and muttered a spell. Sirius resisted the urge to look down when the pain lessened considerably. She tapped her wand against his chest and he sighed in relief. It was gone. Whatever she had done, it had worked. She felt around her work experimentally and Sirius remembered for the first time that it was directly over his heart; she would undoubtedly feel his heart racing. Because it was. Because she was no more than six inches away from him and her hair had fallen back into her face and it was tickling his arm again. "Not too bad, if I do say so myself. Go ahead, take a look." She said and got a mirror out of her bag and handed it to him, sitting down much farther away than she just had been.

He looked down in the mirror and agreed with her. She had done a pretty bang up job, especially considering she was only 14 and a Third Year. The infection had cleared out and it had healed into two, clean, crisscrossing lines over his heart.

"I'm impressed, not going to lie." He said with a grateful smile. She smiled back at him, relief apparent on her face, "Who taught you how to do that?"

"My dad. He thought it was good for me and Rae to know how to heal. Except my brother never took a real interest in it so he quit. Dad kept teaching me though because I wanted to learn how to help in anyway I could. My skills just aren't…super refined. I can keep you from bleeding out but it isn't going to look pretty." She replied. Sirius nodded. Seemed like Daniel Masters, from the little he knew about him from his limited personal experience with the man. "Now, is there any other part of you that needs attention?" She asked, going back to the original topic. Sirius really wished she had worded that differently. He physically had to bite his tongue from replying with the first thing that came to mind. He really wanted to say 'all of me. Now can we please make out for the rest of the train ride?' but he held his tongue. That was not going to go over well so he didn't say it.

"Uh, yeah I can't tell if I have a concussion or am just really dehydrated…everything starts spinning occasionally." Dany scooted closer and looked at his eyes.

"Your pupils look normal but I can take a look at your head." She said and he nodded. "Alright turn around." He turned so his back was to her and he felt her gently moving her hands over his scalp, looking for blood or anything that seemed wrong. "Um, you're a little too tall for me to see the top of your head so don't mind the fact I'm going to use your shoulders to balance myself on my knees. Because you know, we're on a moving train." She said and he nodded as she put her hands on his shoulders. A hand would occasionally move from his shoulders to head but eventually she let go and said, "There's nothing wrong with your head…well no more than usual." She joked and he rolled his eyes. "It's probably just dehydration…and hunger I'm guessing. Speaking of which…" She stood up and grabbed something out of her bag and tossed it to him, "Have a sandwich."

"Dan, I'm not eating your food."

"Well, there's no way I can eat it with a clean conscious knowing that you haven't eaten anything decent, if anything at all, since I last saw you. So shut up and eat the sandwich." Dany told him. She watched him eat the sandwich with a raised eyebrow. She didn't try to get him to talk, which he appreciated because he was very content just shoving the sandwich in his mouth as fast as possible. He finished in a couple minutes.

"Thanks for the food." He said quietly.

"Don't worry about it…now are you going to tell me why your parents felt the need to starve you out?" She asked him.

"The usual…I'm a disgrace to the family, your brother should have been born first, Regulus is a better son, blood traitor filth, blah, blah, blah. Hey at least they gave me some water sometimes." Dany raised her eyebrows at the last part.

"They _gave_ you water? You're their _son_ not their _dog_. What the fuck is wrong with these people?" She snapped, mainly to herself. Sirius realized this really had nothing to do with him at the moment. For a second he saw her eyes go angry; it was the kind of anger that usually only lasted for seconds but could burn down entire cities if it lasted any longer. It was dangerous. For the first time, he understood what people were talking about when they spoke of Daniel Masters' temper; clearly, his daughter had inherited it. Suddenly a quill flew out of Lily's bag of its own accord and impaled itself into the wall across from the bag it had previously been in. Sirius looked at Dany. She hadn't even noticed it had happened.

"Uh…Dany? Did you just see that?" She focused back on what he was saying and clearly had no clue what he was talking about.

"See what?"

"Um…one of Lily's quills, it just kind of came out of her bag and stabbed itself into the wall…all the way over there." He said, pointing to the quill where it was still sticking out of the wood. Dany looked mildly annoyed.

"Damn. I finally thought I was getting it under control. There goes my streak." She said as she stood on her seat and pulled it out of the wall like nothing was really out of the ordinary about a quill stabbing itself into a wall like it had been made of steel.

"Would you care to explain that to me?" Sirius said slowly.

"Your parents never told you? Huh, well everyone has energy floating around them, right?" Sirius nodded, "That energy is called an aura, and everyone, even Muggles, have one. Witches and wizard's energy is of course, magical. And like everyone else's, including Muggles, it fluctuates with their mood and emotions. But unlike Muggles, the energy is stronger or weaker, depending on the magical capabilities of the wizard or, in this case, witch. The stronger the person, the more…physical the aura becomes because there's nowhere else for any excess magic to go. You've seriously never heard of this?" She asked.

"No…none of this is familiar. I mean it kind of sounds like accidental magic, to be honest. What does all of this have to do with _that_?" Sirius replied, gesturing to the quill in Dany's hand.

"Well, auras carry our extra magic around right? So say, when a witch gets upset, her aura throws things into walls or breaks something. Or trips someone or even pushes someone out of the way, you get the point. Your aura is your magic acting out because you can't control your emotions. It's like a little kid who throws things when it gets angry."

"So…that was you?" Sirius said slowly.

"Yeah, that was me. I've been trying to get it under control and it hasn't been going too bad…until just now, clearly." She said with a shrug.

"What particular emotion would make you want to impale a wall?" Sirius asked slowly.

"That was anger…and bloodlust." She said, clearly debating in adding the second part.

"Bloodlust?"

"If it was _just_ anger, something would have just broken; like the window probably would have gotten it if I had been purely angry. I can't really stop it, I just have to stop my emotions before they become too…intense." She said. "I'm honestly surprised that you've never had anything like that happen to you; most witches and wizards have it happen to them at least once in their lives. And you're not what I'd call of average horsepower either." Dany said, looking at him skeptically. "You're awfully strong to have never had an outburst."

"Maybe I'm just good at controlling my emotions." Sirius said, unsure of what exactly had just been explained to him.

"Maybe…I don't know why but people definitely tend to have it happen more once they know about it so we shall see." She said with a shrug, "But don't get me wrong, your aura doesn't only react to negative emotions; there are positive ones too like love and excitement. They're powerful, more intense than anything negative emotions can produce."

"More intense than that?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the quill.

"Absolutely. That was just a temper tantrum, really. But incredible things come of love and empathy and happiness; things Muggles would call miracles. You know my brother was born with a cleft palate? It was pretty severe too." She asked.

"No, I had no idea. I see he remedied that somehow." Sirius said with raised eyebrows.

"It was my mom. They handed her a son, her firstborn, and he had a major deformity. She was devastated but of course she loved him, he was her son, her baby boy. He started crying and she touched his face to calm him down and it just…vanished. Dad saw the whole thing happen." Dany said.

"Seriously?"

"Yep…I told you that what just happened was pretty minor. Anyways, do you have anymore problems for me to fix with my magical healing powers?" she said with a little laugh and a grin. Sirius thought for a second.

"Um, I think I might have a couple broken ribs but I'm not sure. Something definitely broke the skin though." He said and she looked at his abdomen critically making him wish he had done more crunches in his life. The longer she stared, the flabbier he felt. She poked a spot and he winced.

"Yeah, I found it…okay this is going to smart, just be aware… _episkey._ " He winced and tried not to groan. He prodded the area and it was painless.

"You're a wonderful human being. Thank you so much." He said and she laughed again.

"Oh, I'm not done being a goddess. I can even clean your shirt." She grabbed his shirt and muttered a spell he didn't catch and tossed it to him. And it actually was clean. She tapped her jacket and the bloodstain vanished. "No blood, no foul." She said with a grin that quickly faded. "But seriously, what did they do to you? This isn't you, Sirius. You're not this withdrawn of a person." She said softly. She sounded quite concerned, actually. He looked at her and he could tell that she really wanted him to tell her the truth. To everyone's surprise, Sirius included, he caved. Well, for the most part. No way in Hell he was telling her that this had mostly been over her.

"My parents…didn't take well to my attitude towards them the night we got back from New Years. Truth be told, I'd been mouthing off for weeks knowing they couldn't do anything until after New Years…so as soon as we went home, things went to hell. I was trapped in the basement the whole time; it was bloody frigid, just by the way I don't suggest a basement in January to anyone. It was just…nonstop for days. Most of the damage, all of this, was done in the first two. The rest of the time was…well let's just leave it at my mom likes to play mind games with people. She finds your fears, your weaknesses and plays with them, she intensifies them and makes them so real that it's terrifying…she's also a real fan of the Cruciatus Curse, which is always delightful." Dany's mouth opened in shock and Sirius realized what he'd said. "Shit, no don't tell anyone that I told you that. Damn, I wasn't going to say that out loud. Forget that part." He quickly said.

"Sirius…my God, how often does that happen?" She asked, clearly ignoring the 'let it go' request. Not like he could really blame her. It was outrageously illegal.

"Dan, please don't. I'm used to it." He said, trying to brush it off.

"Used to it? You've got to be kidding me. What if James came to you and said 'yeah man, you know the Cruciatus Curse, but its okay I'm _used to it_.' Seriously? _Seriously?_ " She said. He knew she was right. But she absolutely had to stay away from his parents. They wanted to get their hands on her in a bad way and he was not going to let them get within spitting distance of her. "If this was reversed and that had just come out of my mouth, how would _you_ be acting? You'd be _pissed…_ Well I'd hope you'd be." She added on at the end. Pissed would be a spectacular understatement. He would be livid and he knew it.

"Honestly? If this were reversed I'd probably try to go kill them, I'm not going to lie to you. And the only reason I say that is because I've lived it; and there are very few people in the world that deserve that kind of pain." He responded quietly. There was a resounding silence. Finally she broke it, speaking in a voice he had never heard from her before. For once, there was no smile or laugh, no anger or angst in her voice. She sounded incredibly sad and incredibly sympathetic.

"Sirius, you think you're one of them?" He looked up at her and she looked incredibly upset at this piece of information. He shrugged; mainly because he'd never given it much thought. "You think you deserve to be treated like that?" He said nothing and she continued, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you deserve to be treated like you're nothing. You matter; don't let them convince you otherwise."

"Dan…the things I've done and seen…" Sirius started. He had been in awful places and seen horrific things.

"You're not what you've done or what you've seen. That doesn't mean you're a bad person because you've seen horrible things."

"You don't understand. You _can't_ understand." Sirius said, begging her to let it go.

"Help me understand then. I don't even know what I'm talking about, to be honest. You won't let any of us in." She told him. Sirius knew it was true. He didn't let people in because people he cared about tended to get hurt.

"Horrible things happen to the people I let in. The best thing I can do for the people I care about is to keep them out of this mess." He said and Dany leaned forward, putting her elbow on her knee and her head in her hand. She stared at him and said nothing. "You're just going to sit there until I tell you, aren't you?" She continued to silently stare. He could feel her eyes boring into his face. "Of course you are. Fine, I'll tell you. What do you want to know?" He sighed. She finally moved and stopped staring.

"What have you seen that's horrible you think you deserve to be treated the way you are? What's your great crime against humanity?" She asked quietly but still unafraid.

"My family…well let me start by saying that even though the war is relatively new, in terms of being big news, it's been a long time in the making." Dany raised her eyebrows. Sirius wasn't surprised that she didn't know this. Her father was the Minister; he wasn't exactly privy to all of the sketchy comings and goings of the darker parts of the Wizarding World. "Just before I started Hogwarts, I was probably around 10, we had a visitor. Regulus and I were shooed upstairs to our rooms and Kreacher put us in some dreadful dress robes for little kids.

"Eventually, we were called downstairs and my entire family was there. My parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, _everyone_ was there. There was also a man that I didn't recognize. The weird part was that he didn't look…quite human. His eyes were all wrong; the pupils were slits, like a snake's. Regulus freaked, he hid behind me and refused to let go of my sleeve when he saw the guy; he was just a kid, only nine or so. He bloody terrified me too, you know. Except Reg was already hiding and we couldn't both run away so I sucked it up and when the guy greeted me I shook his hand. I think deep down, I knew something wasn't right; everyone was too on edge and my mother looked at the guy like she fucking loved him.

"He started asking me questions about my family…and what I thought about Muggleborns." Dany's gaze sharpened. He suspected she knew where this was going. "I'd never met a Muggleborn in my life, I didn't know any better, so I just restated something that my parents had told me a million times. He liked the answers I gave him, I think. He asked me if I'd help him with something when I was older, after I'd gone to Hogwarts and learned how to do magic properly. He asked me if I'd get a tattoo from him, like my parents had, when I turned sixteen. I had no clue what the guy meant so I said yes." Dany looked at him critically, not like she was judging, but like she was trying to discern what exactly had happened.

"Sirius…did you accidentally agree to be a Death Eater when you were ten?" She asked slowly. Like she wasn't sure if she had completely misinterpreted what she had just heard.

"Yeah…I kinda promised Voldemort I'd be a Death Eater when I grew up. God, the worst part was that I believed all that shit. Until I met Lily, one of the best people I know, I seriously used the term 'mudblood'. I can never forgive myself for what I did that day. It just makes me feel…dirty." Sirius said. Dany looked sad. He vaguely wondered if she'd hate him after hearing that. If he was her, he'd walk out of the room and never come back.

"Well, your childhood sounds way more dramatic than mine was. But you said it yourself, you didn't know any better. You were just going along with your parents, and probably everyone else you knew. There was no one to show you that there was a different way to live and treat people, not until you came to Hogwarts. A child has to be taught how to treat people different from them with love and kindness and there was no one to do that for you." Dany said and he could tell that she absolutely believed what she was saying.

"You have no idea how hard it was for me to come to Hogwarts…and when I was put in Gryffindor and I met James and Frank and Marlene and Alice, all of whom I was taught to avoid purely based on their surnames, and then I found out about Remus and I just didn't understand how they were all so nice but they were supposed to be so evil and half-breeds and freaks. And then there was Lily. She was so smart and sweet. My parents had always told me that Muggleborns were stupid and mean; that they had to be exterminated. It just didn't add up." Sirius put his head in his hands.

"Well at least you were open to change and to accepting them. It led to some pretty great friendships." She said kindly. He knew she had noticed her own absence in that list and judging by the look on her face she was mildly hurt. He knew he'd have to tell her. Once he started, it all came pouring out, way more than what was supposed to. He couldn't look at her as he said it, out of shame and then embarrassment.

"And then I met a girl whose name was one that I was supposed to despise, I was taught to hate her and everything she and her family stood for. And I did, I hated her. But one Tuesday, I tripped on my way to Potions during First Year and dropped my books. One of my older cousins kicked my things away from me. I was bloody terrified of everyone and what they thought of me as I tried to pick everything up. Then someone leaned down next to me and helped me pick my stuff up. She kept saying things along the lines of 'don't worry about them' and 'they'll find someone else to torment soon'. Once I had my books again I finally looked at her face and I was shocked. There was no white hair, it was charmed brown, but it was undeniably the same girl that I was supposed to hate. And then you smiled and said 'I'm Dany, you're Sirius right?' and it was one of the first times no one bothered with my last name. I nodded and you said 'well Sirius, it's nice to meet you. I'd keep an eye on those cousins of yours if I were you' and you laughed. Lily caught up with you and you told her to go on ahead without you. We walked to Potions together and I wasn't scared anymore by the time we got there." He looked up at her, trying to gauge her reaction to that. She had a hand over her mouth and had a strange expression on her face that he couldn't quite place.

"I didn't know any of that…and that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She said and her voice sounded strained. Sirius realized what that expression was; she was trying not to cry and failing miserably at it as tears started to drip down her cheeks. "Oh my god, this is embarrassing. Sorry." She said as she furiously rubbed her eyes, trying to get her tears to stop.

"Shit, I didn't mean to make you cry, seriously. I was going to not say like half of that but it just kind of came out." Sirius said uncomfortably. Tears freaked him out, mainly because he didn't know how to make them stop.

"No, no I'm glad you did." She said with a slightly watery smile. "Really, I am. Never underestimate the power of helping someone pick up their books." She said jokingly. He laughed, truly laughed for the first time since the last time he had seen his friends.

* * *

James was getting worried. They were almost to Hogwarts and while Marlene, Frank, Alice, and Remus had found them long ago, Dany and Sirius had not reappeared from the other compartment. Lily was talking to Marlene and Alice but he didn't miss the way her eyes kept flicking to the door. They had told the others what had happened but they hadn't seen it themselves so they seemed relatively unconcerned.

If this was beyond Dany, she would go get her brother, that James was sure of. They had been in there almost four hours.

"We should probably change, guys." Marlene said and everyone nodded. Lily and James exchanged a look.

"Our stuff is back in there…so wish us luck." Lily said slowly to the compartment at large. They all nodded and James followed Lily out into the hallway and listened for any sounds in the compartment that they had left Sirius and Dany in hours ago. James opened the door and was taken aback.

Sirius was still shirtless, except now he no longer looked like he was on his deathbed and the only remnants of his injury were a few scars. Dany was sitting across from him and her hands were a little bloody. In her hands was a quill that James didn't recognize; he supposed it was probably Lily's if he had never seen it before. The most shocking part wasn't that Sirius was looking at her like she hung the moon (which she didn't notice). She probably didn't notice that he was staring because Dany was wiping her eyes, which left a small trace of blood on her cheek. She had been crying.

"What the hell is going on here?" James said loudly. Both of them jumped, apparently not noticing the intrusion. Sirius shoved his (clean) shirt on and looked like he had been caught in the middle of doing something he wasn't supposed to be. Dany looked at Lily, who raised an eyebrow as if to say 'we're talking about this later'. "Is she _crying_? Sirius Black so help me if you made her cry." James told Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened and looked like he was scrambling for something to say.

"James! No, it's fine, really it is. We don't need to beat anyone up, I promise. Besides, I can do that myself." Dany said, standing and moving towards her Godbrother, putting a hand on his arm. "It's okay." James looked at them both skeptically but nodded.

"We need to get changed, we're almost there." Lily said. "By the way we found the others."

"Lily, I think you've lost your mind. There's no way we're almost to Hogwarts. It's like a five hour ride." Sirius said, looking at her like she was absolutely nuts.

"Hey, you two were in here almost four hours. Don't blame us." James said. Dany checked her watch and her eyes widened.

"Holy crap. Well we better change. You said you found everyone else?" She said. Lily nodded.

"Is that my quill?" Lily abruptly said. Dany looked down at the object in her hands. It was slightly bloody, like her hands were. She handed it to her best friend.

"Erm, yeah it is…I don't think it's much good anymore. Sorry about that, I'll but you a new one." Dany said with an awkward smile.

"Danilynn what happened to this poor thing?" Lily replied. James looked at it closely; it wasn't just bloody but the tip had been completely destroyed and flattened. He could have a guess at what happened to it exactly.

"Damn, Dan I thought you were getting that under control." He said to his Godsister.

"Well, I _did_ have it under control…until I didn't. It impaled itself in that," she gestured behind her, "wall, in case you were wondering." She said.

"Wow, whose head were you out for?" He asked her with a grin.

"Ah, you know me too well… but alas, that's secret." She said and patted him on the cheek patronizingly. Lily and Sirius watched on, both amused. James had a pretty good guess that something Sirius had told her, probably about his parents, had made her lose her cool for just long enough to violently launch something across the room. "We should change you guys, I'm starting to recognize things out the window." She said, changing topics. They all pulled their bags down from the racks above their heads.

"Um, are we just going with the 'we're friends why not change clothes out in the open' philosophy this year?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"I don't see why not. It's not like no one has ever seen you in a bathing suit, Lily. Same idea." James said with a shrug as he dug through his bag and extracted his top, tie, and shoes. He knew this was her idea of seeing what the other two in the compartment would do.

"Alright…" Lily said and looked around, waiting for someone else to start taking clothes off first. They all looked at each other.

"Jesus, this is ridiculous. I'll start." James said and pulled his shirt off. Sirius followed suit and Dany pulled her shirt off over her head and wiggled out of her jeans while Lily took the time to unbutton her shirt.

James glanced at Sirius when Dany stripped down to her underwear and bra. His eyes immediately looked her up and down, from head to toe, and then rested on her chest before James caught his eye and raised an eyebrow at him. He looked away with an unmistakable look of guilt. She turned around to grab her skirt and James saw him glance at her butt before looking away and concentrating very hard on the window. Dany pulled her skirt on and James didn't miss the fact she clearly checked out Sirius as he looked out the window and changed pants. He appeared dedicated to watching the scenery as to not look at Dany's rack in front of her Godbrother. James pulled on his school shirt and pants and buttoned up his shirt. He glanced at Lily and then quickly looked away. No, we're not thinking about that right now, he told himself and he too looked out the window.

"Okay, is everyone done?" Lily suddenly asked. She received three affirmative answers. "Alright. Boys, I think you can stop looking out the window. I know we're incredibly beautiful but seriously, we're clothed now." She said with a laugh. Both guys broke their stares with the window and indeed, both girls were clothed, except for the fact Dany still had to button the top three buttons of her shirt. James watched Sirius get a good look at her cleavage before looking away again and loudly clearing his throat.

"Uh, Dan you have something on your face." Lily said, pointing to the spot on her own face. Dany touched her cheek and wiped the blood off her face. Once she realized what it was she rubbed it off on her skirt.

"Thanks, Lils." She threw her tie around her neck; she hadn't noticed the fact that Sirius had intensely checked her out or that he had looked completely embarrassed that his blood had ended up on her face. The train suddenly turned a corner and Hogwarts came into view. Marlene, Al, Frank, and Remus came into their compartment.

"We're back, guys." Remus said with a grin. Everyone exchanged smiles. It was time to finish off the year with a bang.


	6. Hands on the Throttle

**Disclaimer: Not mine...**

 **Hey guys! So we're back at Hogwarts and I'm excited and I hope y'all are excited too! (Things start to go crazy here)**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

 **Essie**

* * *

Baby, we were born with  
Fire & gold in our eyes, eyes  
With fire & gold in our eyes, eyes  
Got lightning in a bottle  
Hands on the throttle  
Even in the dust we shine  
With fire & gold in our eyes

~ _Fire N Gold_ , Bea Miller

* * *

"James, I seriously think eight is way too many for one carriage." Remus protested. Dany thought that Remus was making a very good point but said nothing.

"Aw, come on Remus! It would be so fun!"

"No, I think Remus is right, besides we want to have an all girls ride up." Lily said and Dany suspected that the beginning of her inquisition was going to start. The boys all looked at her when she spontaneously spoke up and shrugged.

"What ever floats your boat, Evans." Sirius said and the guys got in a carriage, leaving the girls to wait for another one. They were alone and as soon as the carriage with the boys in it disappeared, Lily turned on Dany. Damn, she knew it; Lily was so predictable.

"Danilynn Masters, I want to know why it is you were crying. You _never_ cry. Ever." Lily said, crossing her arms.

" _What?_ " Marlene and Alice said in unison. Lily looked at them with a look that said 'I know right?'

"So we go back into the compartment to change and Sirius is still sitting there shirtless and Dany has one of my broken quills in her blood-smeared hands and is bloody bawling." Lily informed them.

"I wasn't _bawling,_ Lillian. Sorry for being human and having emotions." Dany told them. Just then a carriage appeared and they all climbed into it to continue their conversation.

"What the hell happened, Dan?" Alice asked gently. Dany looked at her and could almost hear Sirius saying 'forget I told you that'.

"I—it was just a very…we talked. Well he talked and I listened mainly." Dany told them in the vaguest way possible.

"Talked about what?" Marlene asked, her eyes curious. Dany hesitated. Surely she could tell them what they had talked about without betraying his trust as long as she kept it broad.

"Mainly his family." The other three girls exchanged looks; it was widely known that Sirius Black hardly ever mentioned his family, let alone actually spoke of them. "It was awful. No one deserves the life he's lived." Dany said softly. Even she could hear the sympathy in her own voice.

"What did he say?" Marlene asked. Dany froze; she wasn't going into this any further. She might talk to Lily later but truthfully she didn't know for sure that Marles and Alice wouldn't tell someone else and then the rest of the school.

"That has nothing to do with you, Marlene." Dany said quietly and everyone else got the point. Conversation over. An awkward silence fell over the carriage and moments later they, mercifully, arrived at Hogwarts. All four of the girls got out and walked into the Entrance Hall. They ran into the guys (all five of them seeing that Peter had apparently made it back in one piece) halfway to the Common Room. Dany caught the way that Lily hesitantly smiled at James. She grinned to herself; she was always right. She smiled at Peter.

"Hey, Pete. Good holiday?" She asked him kindly. She had never particularly cared for how the guys treated him but she still tolerated it. Barely.

"Yeah, it was good. Cold though, even colder than here. What about yours?" he asked her in his typical mousey way. He appeared even pudgier than he had been when they had left for break.

"Alright except for the fact that my brother's taken to waking me up with a nice blast of water to the face every morning." She laughed, "That's something I won't be missing from home. If I wake up with my hair soaking and stuck to my face shivering, I'm going to bloody lose it…Lily, shit stop!" She suddenly yelled as Lily tried to jinx James in the middle of the staircase. Dany ran forward and wrestled her friend's wand from her hand and tried to restrain her. "Are you mad? You're going to kill him on these stairs. I know you Lily Evans, you'll never forgive yourself if he falls off and breaks something or worse." She told the angry redhead. Lily stopped trying to struggle and Dany hesitantly loosened her grip. Lily made no attempt to throttle James so she let her go; Dany _did_ however, hold onto her wand. Without another word, Lily stomped off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, not bothering to ask for her wand back. Sirius waved his wand at James and the bat-bogey hex stopped. He too walked off and everyone exchanged looks.

"Did anyone see what happened?" Alice asked. Remus raised a hand.

"I saw. It was the usual; he asked her out. Except he seemed super confident this time and was even more of an ass than usual." He said, sounding rather bored. Everyone made some sort of motion or sound of frustration.

"When is he going to learn that _that's_ no way to get a girl to go out with you?" Sirius asked no one in particular. Frank shrugged.

"I don't know man, he apparently missed the memo on that one. He just can't help thinking that he's the best thing ever." He told his friend. They all walked on, finally reaching the Common Room. Dany, Marles, and Al all wished the boys a good night and everyone exchanged hugs before going to bed. As Dany climbed the stairs behind her friends, she thought about the three words that Sirius had breathed into her ear before going to bed, "Thanks for listening". They opened the door and saw Lily lying in bed, reading.

"Hello, you lot. Dan, you have my wand?" She said. Dany nodded and threw it to her.

"On the condition you don't jinx my Godbrother any time soon." She responded.

"Yeah, yeah he had it coming." Lily said with a hand wave, "I need some food. I'm heading to the Kitchens; want to come, Masters?" She added on. Dany nodded. She knew what her best friend was doing; she was giving her a perfect opportunity to talk if she wanted.

"We'll be back soon. Any requests?" Dany told the room. There were two negative answers and Lily and Dany left the room and then the tower. Once they reached the Kitchens, Lily sat down on the ground and patted the ground next to her. It was cold stone and Dany had a sudden flash of what Sirius had said about being in a basement in January.

"Dan, what aren't you saying? Something's different; don't think I can't tell, girlfriend." Lily said in her no-nonsense way.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of Marles or Al…I love them to death but I just don't…believe their vows of secrecy." Lily nodded. They had talked about this before. Someone had forgotten to tell those two that loose lips sink ships.

"So what's up?" Lily asked kindly.

"I said that he talked about his family, and he did quite a bit. But I was okay with that; I was pissed don't get me wrong, but I was okay. Eventually it kind of evolved into how he felt 'dark' and 'dirty' because of his family and then it changed into how hard it had been for him to come to Hogwarts and then it was how we met. That's where I lost it."

"And? That sounds pretty mundane." Lily said.

"Lils, it wasn't like 'oh yeah we met one day sometime during First Year' it was really, _really_ personal." Dany said. Lily looked mildly concerned for her friend's sanity.

"How personal could that be? You met in a public place. I was there."

"It just—God, it was crazy. I mean Lils, he remembered the day of the week we met. I'm not joking. And it was so detailed and it was really nice. It was something I've never heard from any guy, or anyone, ever say anything like." Dany said and watched her best friend's reaction. She looked cautiously hopeful.

"Dany…what exactly did he say? Like word for word. I'm having a really hard time piecing this together." Lily asked slowly like she was expecting to get a 'no' as a response.

"He said something like 'I met a girl who I was supposed to hate because of her last name, and I did hate her. But one Tuesday I tripped and was really scared about what everyone else thought of me and this girl helped me up and she asked me who I was and she told me to watch out for my cousins and then we walked to potions together and I wasn't scared anymore'. Okay when someone says a much longer, more heartfelt version of that to you, you'll know why I cried." Dany told her friend. Dany wasn't shocked to find that she was choking up again. This time Lily was tearing up too.

"Oh my god…that's actually really touching. That's really sweet; I'm not going to lie. And just after you healed him, it's like a movie." Lily said, clearly starting to cry a little. Dany smiled at her friend thinking 'I told you so, Lily Evans'.

"I just feel so bad for him…he's a really good person; he doesn't deserve this, any of it. The worst part is that he thinks he does."

"What?" Lily asked, like she had heard wrong. Dany quite agreed with that assessment.

"Yeah, you heard me. He thinks he deserves all of this because he bought the 'Muggleborns suck' line his parents sold him when he was like five. I tried to tell him that it wasn't really his fault and that he had no way of knowing better, but I don't think he really heard me." Dany sighed. It really was heartbreaking. She could feel her heart give an uncomfortable squeeze just thinking about it.

"That's ridiculous. How could he have known any better? Besides, he definitely made an effort, I mean we're friends now and I'm the biggest Muggleborn there is…speaking of ridiculous, I think it's really ridiculous how bad you've got it for him." Lily said with a sudden grin. Dany felt her stomach give a jerk.

"What are you talking about?" Dany replied, knowing that she was _so_ busted.

"You know what I'm talking about, Dany Masters. I've never seen you so upset over something before. And I've definitely never seen you cry. His pain brought you to tears, Sweetie. That's nothing to laugh at. So how long have you liked him?" Lily asked. Dany hesitated before telling her the truth.

"Since the end of last school year. Seriously Lily, don't tell anyone. No one knows. Well my brother does but he doesn't count." She pleaded with the redhead. Lily smiled.

"Hey, I'm not telling anyone. Cross my heart and hope to die. You know what? God strike me down if I'm lying." Lily responded and paused, as if waiting for lightning to strike her. Nothing happened. "See? I'm not going to tell anyone. Even God believes me." She said and Dany giggled.

"Come on, Marlene and Alice are probably waiting for us to get back. This must have been a pretty extensive food trip that we never got food on." Dany told her friend as she checked her watch. They had been there for half an hour, plus walking time added up to about an hour. They walked up to the tower and when they entered the Common Room, it was empty. Lily put an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Sweetie…we'll take good care of him. We always do. Come on, you need sleep; you've had one hell of a day." Lily said softly. Dany nodded.

"Ugh please, you have no idea…I'm taking what I heard today to the grave, Lils. To the bloody grave I tell you." Dany groaned and together the girls walked up the stairs to their room and Dany counted her lucky stars, not for the first time, that Lily Evans would always be there for her.

* * *

Lily was sitting in bed watching her friends get ready for bed. Marlene was brushing her teeth, Alice was putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, and Dany was changing. She was concerned for Dany; she was too close to Sirius' problems. Not that she didn't endorse a future Dany/Sirius relationship, because she totally did, but she had never seen her best friend so devastated. And honestly, she had never been so afraid as when she had walked into that compartment and saw the tears on her face and the blood on her hands. And the way he had looked at her…it wouldn't have shocked Lily to hear that many of Sirius' problems at home were caused by the fact his mother had noticed that he looked at Dany like a starving man looked at food. Not that she'd ever share that theory with Dany, who suddenly inspected her hands.

"Marles, you done with the sink?" She called out. Marlene stuck her hand out the door and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Dan, you just finished in the bathroom. Or did you forget?" Lily asked her with a laugh. Dany didn't laugh back.

"No, I didn't forget. I just…have something under my nails is all." She said shortly. Lily felt her gaze sharpen.

"Danilynn Masters, let me see your hands." She said, leaving no room for questions. Lily grabbed her hands and looked under her nails; standing out against her light skin was a flaking, rust colored powder under all of her fingernails. "What the hell is that?" Lily asked her softly. Dany didn't answer that; she just pulled her hand back and went to wash them off. Lily followed her and as soon as she started to scrub, she realized what it was. Under the water, the powder turned back into its original color. It was dried blood that was now being flushed down their sink.

"That's blood. Holy shit that's blood. There's blood under your nails." Marlene said faintly. "What the hell Dan? Please tell me that it's at least yours."

"Sure Marlene, it's mine." Dany said absently as the water started to run clear again, the crimson stains on her hands wearing away under the water pressure. "Now can we all go to bed? Please?" She said as she turned the water off. Everyone exchanged looks behind her back that said 'what the hell'. Even so, they all got in bed and the lights turned off. Lily gave into sleep soon after thinking that there was no way that was Dany's blood; it was Sirius'.

The next morning, Lily woke up three minutes before her alarm was set to go off, as she always did. She rolled out of bed and pulled on Alice's foot on her way to the bathroom and threw a shoe at Marlene as she walked back out. Both girls moaned but got up. Then Lily turned her attention to her best friend; her best friend that slept like the living dead. She usually started out relatively gentle by shaking her shoulder rather roughly. Lily leaned over her to wake her up but suddenly Dany gasped. And to her shock, her eyes opened. Lily could have sworn that her irises had been a different color for a moment. Dany got out of bed and ran to her desk. She immediately started writing something. Lily moved towards her to see that she wasn't writing; she was drawing. It was a rough sketch that was quickly becoming more detailed. Lily felt her blood run cold. Dany couldn't draw and what was appearing on the paper was far beyond the skill of a talented fourteen-year-old, let alone her inartistic best friend.

"Dan? Are you okay?" She asked her hesitantly.

Dany ignored her and never stopped drawing. Lily nodded and started to get dressed for the school day. A few minutes later, Dany put down the quill and stared at what she had just done.

"What the fuck is this?" She said suddenly. Lily looked up at her. "Lily? Can you come here?" She said and there was fear all over her voice. Lily walked over to her. "How long have I been up?"

"About fifteen minutes…why? Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"I don't remember getting out of bed. I don't remember doing this…did I do this?" She said. Lily looked down at the picture. It was dark. It was a small room carved into stone. There were symbols next to the drawing, as if it was a side note, written in a language that Lily didn't recognize. The most disturbing part was the man in the cell. He was all skin and bones and had a head of long, nasty hair; he was looking away, curled into a ball in the corner. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Yeah Dan, I watched you do it…are you sure you're okay?"

"I can't draw like this. I can't. I have no talent like this. I did this in fifteen minutes?" Lily nodded.

"Dany…where have you seen this?" She asked cautiously. Marlene and Alice were starting to notice that something was wrong but continued with their routine as usual. They probably just assumed that it was some drama with Potter or something.

"I—I had a dream about it but I don't remember waking up. I fell asleep and I saw this. Next thing I know, I'm standing here with the most twisted drawing ever in my hands." Lily stroked her hair, trying to calm her shaking friend down.

"I'm sure it's nothing, alright? Let's get on with the day…it's probably stress or something. I wouldn't get worried unless it happens again. Now let's put this somewhere safe and hidden, okay? We don't need that horror floating around here." Lily told her gently. Dany nodded. "I'll put it somewhere; go get ready." Dany left to go put her clothes on and Lily looked at the drawing again before shoving it in her own copy of _Hogwarts, A History._ She was hitting the library during lunch today.

The girls all walked down to breakfast together and Dany seemed pretty normal. As time passed, she had seemed to calm down and return to her normal self. By the time they reached the Great Hall, she was back to normal, laughing and making jokes. They sat down next to the guys and Lily purposefully took a seat next to Remus, as far away from Potter as she could get. Bloody arrogant prick she thought to herself. Forget being tolerable on the train. He had thrown that out the window faster than she imagined he had been capable of.

"Remus how was your break? I never got to ask you." She said to her werewolf friend. He smiled kindly at her; everything he did was kind, really. Lily often thought that no one deserved his condition less than he did.

"It was alright. It was good to see Mom and Dad again. I swear every time I see my dad he looks another five years older. I think living with my mother is finally taking its toll." He said with a grin. Lily laughed. Remus' mother was a nice-enough woman but she enjoyed barking orders at her husband and, when he was home, her son.

"Hey, be nice. I like your mom! But I definitely see the point…sometimes I think that my parents would live much longer, less conflict-ridden lives if they were single." She said and he smiled.

"I know the feeling, believe me." He said and Lily hesitated before changing the subject. Dany seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Alice and was paying no attention to her.

"Yeah…I was just wondering if you've ever read anything on something that happened this morning." She said, dropping her voice.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I went to go wake Dany up, you know how she sleeps."

"Like the bloody dead."

"Yeah, like the bloody dead. So I go to wake her up and am literally leaning over her to shake her shoulder when she wakes up on her own."

"I hardly think the fact she woke up is cause for alarm; if she _hadn't_ woken up, that would be more concerning, Lils."

"Let me finish. So she gasps and opens her eyes and I swear to whoever or whatever her eyes were gold for a second. And then she bolts out of bed and starts drawing the world's creepiest drawing ever. I ask her if she's alright and she ignores me, just keeps drawing. And the weird part is that it was detailed and it was good, really good. Dany can't draw. Suddenly she looks up and has no idea how she got there or what happened." Lily said quickly and very hushed. Remus raised his eyebrows.

"She doesn't remember anything?" He questioned and Lily shook her head.

"Said she remembers falling asleep, having a dream about what she drew and next thing she knows, she's standing there with the drawing. She doesn't remember getting out of bed and she doesn't remember drawing the bloody thing. Which only took her fifteen minutes by the way." Lily said and Remus shook his head.

"I've never heard of anything like that…what did she draw?"

"It was a scene, I have no idea where it was though. It was this guy and he was skinny and dirty and I couldn't see his face. He was in this place made of stone, almost like a cave, but there were these weird symbols next to him, like it was something that she had dreamt and wrote down before she forgot. It was disturbing and she was frantic this morning. Took a while to calm her down."

"Does she recognize anything in it?" Remus asked. Lily shook her head again.

"She said she didn't, just that she'd seen it in a dream." Lily said and suddenly all of their friends started to stand up. It must be time for class. Remus glanced at her again.

"I don't know what any of that is, but I don't like the sound of it. Keep an eye on her." He said before he left with his friends. Marlene asked Lily if she had done the homework for DADA over break and she laughed.

"I did and you better have too, Marlene McKinnon." She said and Dany grinned at her. Marlene hardly ever did homework. Even as she ribbed her friend over her laziness, she couldn't help but think that something was truly wrong with her best friend.

* * *

Sirius was sitting next to James during History of Magic and he could tell by the look on his best mate's face that he wasn't the only one bored out of his bloody mind. He looked around and everyone had the same vacant expression on his or her face. He felt eyes boring into his back and he turned around to see that Tasha Norton was staring at him. He caught her eye and she looked away, probably embarrassed to be caught staring. He turned back around and James passed him a note.

 _She was totally checking you out._ Sirius raised his eyebrows. _I seriously doubt it James._ He slipped it back to his friend and James read it and shook his head. _She's been doing this for the last month or so. I'm telling you that she likes you._ Sirius rolled his eyes and wrote back. _Honestly who_ wouldn't _like me?_ James read it and snickered as he wrote something down in reply. _Girls who don't like guys with big egos, that's who._ Sirius chuckled and passed the paper back with his answer. _Do those even exist?_ His friend smirked and pointed in front of him subtly.

"Well for starters, the one sitting in front of you." He whispered and Sirius looked up at to be met with the sight of Dany's long white hair, which had been pulled into a French braid at some point.

"And? Her taste in guys isn't really any of my concern." Sirius whispered back, so quiet that Binns' voice overshadowed his, even to the people next to them. James raised an eyebrow.

"Sure it isn't." He said and scribbled something on a fresh piece of parchment. _When are you going to own up? You like her._ Sirius felt his stomach lurch. Damn. James was a lot of things and a perceptive bastard was one of them. _How the hell did you figure that?_ He asked. James grinned and took only a second to respond; Sirius had expected a more complex answer than what he got. _I see how you are with her._ It was short and simple. Sirius looked at James like he wasn't sure what to make of that. _What are you talking about man? I don't like your Godsister as more than a friend._ James sighed and put his head in one of his hands as he wrote. _Bullshit. When you're with her it's…different. You don't treat her like you treat everyone else. The day has finally come where Sirius Black takes care to be gentle with something. My Godsister's a beautiful girl; you'd be an idiot not to like her._ Sirius read this with a sigh. He was so busted. _Fine, fine you win, Potter. But seriously don't tell anyone, no one knows._ He wrote back and James grinned. He was in for it now.

"You've got it, mate. Sworn to secrecy." James whispered to him. "But do me a favor and don't rip her heart out; she's got enough shit in her life without the extra heartbreak." Sirius looked at him curiously but suddenly the period ended and James shoved the paper deep into his bag as people started to pack up the textbooks they never bothered to open. Dany was leaned up against her chair, waiting for Lily to put her things away (because she actually took notes in this horrible class) and Lily was talking to her about something that was making her laugh. He caught a few words before someone distracted him. He discerned that Lily's sister had a horrible boyfriend and they were a very bland couple. What distracted him was Tasha Norton. She smiled at him and James and they both smiled back. She was a relatively cute Hufflepuff girl; she was all dirty blonde hair and lipstick. Kind of fake-looking but whatever.

"Hey, Tasha. What's up?" James said easily. She seemed rather nervous.

"Oh, I was just wondering if one of you guys could help me out with charms, I'm awful at it and I know you're both pretty good. It's totally fine if you can't or don't want to it's just that my parents asked me to ask around before they start paying for a tutor." The boys exchanged looks. James shrugged.

"Sure, I mean I could help you maybe on Wednesdays? I have something else every other night of the week." He said and she shook her head.

"That's too bad, I have gobstones club on Wednesday. But thank you for the offer." She said and she glanced at Sirius to see if he'd offer to help and before he could think too much about it, he did, even knowing that James was fully setting him up for a date. He might have known that Sirius was into Dany, but that wasn't going to stop him from pushing him into dates with other girls.

"I could help you maybe one day a week…some of us aren't involved with every club in the castle." She perked up.

"How about Tuesday?" She asked. He nodded.

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that." He said and she suddenly looked rather annoyed but it vanished quickly.

"I better go, see you boys later." She said and left the classroom, brushing by Dany and Lily, both of whom were watching on, highly amused. James looked at them both blandly. Sirius could have sworn he saw her throw daggers at Dany with her eyes.

"What?" He said and Lily giggled while Dany talked with a grin on her face.

"Oh, Sirius _please_ help me with charms, a subject I'm totally passable at! I'll just _die_ if you don't." She said in a shrill voice as she batted her eyelashes before bursting out into laughter. "Ah, I've always wondered what stupid looks like when it flirts and now I know." She laughed and Lily snorted into her hand. Even James looked amused. Sirius rolled his eyes as they left Binns' room for their next class.

"Oh yeah, yeah yuck it up you two. I felt bad! Sorry for being human." He said and they all laughed.

"You do know that she's actually pretty good at charms, right?" Lily informed him and Sirius suddenly felt very played. Dany and James both watched his expression.

"No, I didn't know that she was lying. But I'll keep it in mind." He said and Dany grinned.

"Please it's not like she's actually going to be real focused on her charms grade. She's going to be too busy trying to take your clothes off. However, she _is_ going to have to work on her other type of charm, you know, the one that involves her personality." The white haired girl laughed as she ribbed him further.

"Aw come on, Dan; she's not that bad. She's actually pretty nice from what I've seen of her." Sirius reprimanded her quietly. She got out of control sometimes and when Lily didn't stop her, it was time for him or James to step in. She rolled her eyes and tugged on her braid.

"Whatever you say, man. Just let me know how long it takes before she kisses you." She said as she made a kissy face as she walked away with Lily for Muggle Studies and the boys went to the common room for a break period. Sirius and James caught up with Remus, Frank, and Peter near the tower and James eagerly filled them in on Sirius' recent development with Tasha Norton. No one seemed particularly surprised but nevertheless they listened with identical grins on their faces. He was never going to hear the end of this.

Sure enough, next Wednesday Sirius was sitting on the desk in an empty classroom watching Tasha screw up her charms. He could tell she was doing it purposely because she would start to do everything right, perfect even, and then suddenly she would do something incredibly wrong. So wrong that there was no way it was simple error or just a weakness in the area of magic.

"Tasha…there's no way you're actually this bad at charms. If you _were_ this bad, Flitwick would have said something earlier than Third Year." Sirius said after dodging a spell that was most definitely _not_ the Cheering Charm it was supposed to be for the third time. "What's your deal if it's not actual tutoring?" He asked her dryly. She looked like she had been caught under a spotlight or in the middle of a crime.

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about, really…what do you think it is?" She said and it was all over her face that she was lying to him.

"Sure you don't…James thinks that you're just trying to ask me out or something." He told her blandly. She looked rather alarmed and Sirius supposed that his friend had guessed right. Well, props to James for being more perceptive than he was.

"Well James is right. Oh my god, this is embarrassing. And so awkward. I'm so sorry, I'm going to leave now." She said and shifted around. Sirius sighed. She was cute and pretty nice. Damn.

"Hey, it's cool. Tasha, chill out; it's okay. How about next Hogsmeade trip we go together? Seriously. It'd be fun." He said and immediately wanted to kick himself. He barely knew her. She smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Are you sure?" She asked and he nodded. She smiled again and before he could say anything else, she ran out of the room. Fuck.

He reached the common room around ten and walked in to see it was empty except for Dany sitting in one of the armchairs in her pajamas and clearly ready for bed. She was sitting cross-legged and had some thick book balanced between her knees. It looked incredibly boring and she obviously hadn't noticed him walk in. He leaned over the back of the chair.

"What'cha reading?" He asked and she jumped.

"Shit! Don't do that to me, Sirius. And it's a book my dad sent me…it's riveting let me tell you. It's all about my family and how great or horrible leaders they all were and its essentially my dad's way of saying 'here's how we got here, don't fuck it up when it's your turn'. Ugh if only it wasn't 1200 pages." She groaned and slammed it shut. He sat down in the armchair next to her.

"Eh, it doesn't look too bad. I mean I'd _definitely_ claw my eyes out, but I don't think it warrants death. Unless he sends you another one." He said and she shoved him.

"Don't even say that. If you do, I'm going to get to the end and realize that it only goes to 1800 and there's another 200 years of Ministers and Aurors to go through. You are literally dooming me by saying that." She said and threw the book on the ground. He laughed at the face she gave the book. "How was 'tutoring' by the way?" She asked. He shrugged, hesitant to admit to her that she had been right.

"Fine. You all were totally right about her being horrible on purpose, by the way. I called her out and she just got embarrassed and said she wanted to ask me out. And now we're going to Hogsmeade together next weekend." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

" _She_ asked _you_ out?" She said.

"Well I actually kind of called her on being bad at charms and she admitted that she had been planning on it. She was really embarrassed…"

"Really? She's actually nice?" She said, clearly surprised, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Dan she's actually nice. And speaking of that, you're definitely going to be around her next weekend so just in advance: be nice. She's a Hufflepuff; she scares easy. Please, I'm begging you, play nice." He said and she grinned as she picked up her book.

"Because you asked so nicely, I promise not to terrify or torment her. I better get to bed before Momma Bear Lily comes down here and hauls me up to bed. Goodnight. Enjoy dreaming of your new girlfriend." She got up to leave and before he could sop himself, he called out to her.

"Hey Dan, why'd you ask if she asked me out? You'd never ask a guy out yourself?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Nah, my family's old fashioned. Besides, Dad always told me that any guy worth being with would have the guts to ask me out; said that if he was too scared to do that, there was no way that he would be able to keep me challenged for any amount of time." She said with a laugh.

"Challenged?"

"Yeah…it's what people in my family have always really wanted; someone that will challenge them, make them think. My dad asked my mom out because she was the only woman he knew that he'd lose an argument to. He liked that she wasn't afraid to destroy him just because of who he was and who his father was. They're rare people you know…people that don't care about my last name or the color of my hair." She said and she looked sad as she tugged on her waist length hair, almost self-consciously. It struck Sirius how much like a child she still was, they all were; she was still built like a little girl for the most part and not all of her limbs were proportional yet, like she was growing. He was the same way; still skinny except for the relatively small amount of muscle he had built from Quidditch and he was pretty sure his neck was way too long for his body.

"Damn, your dad doesn't seem like one to take a lost argument lying down…she must have really been something else when they were kids." He said and Dany laughed.

"Yeah, she really was from what I hear. Dad still talks about the time he hit a reporter and she dragged him through the streets of London by his ear to shame him. He didn't even wait until she settled down to propose." She said and Sirius laughed at the image of the Minister being dragged around by his ear.

"How old were they? When they got married I mean." He asked suddenly, for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom. He seriously had no clue why he had just asked her that.

"They were nineteen. Well, Dad was nineteen. Mom was still eighteen. He asked her to marry him in a park in London, by the water." She said softly, with a smile that seemed to be more for herself than anyone else.

"That's young, but I guess if you know what and who you want you go for it. Not like any of us would know what that's like." He said and she laughed.

"You're telling me. I still have a hard time picking what to eat for breakfast…alright, now I'm really going to bed; Lily's going to kill me for being up so late. You're taking the blame by the way." She said with a laugh before vanishing up the stairs to her room. Sirius watched her leave and then went up to his own room. When he walked in, everyone was sleeping; he suspected that Remus had made everyone go to bed early in preparation for Astronomy tomorrow night. He got into bed and thought about the fact that he had somehow just started dating his first girlfriend and that Dany's parents had only been five years older than them when they had married.

The next morning, James shoved him out of bed and onto the ground with the terse statement of "get up". Sirius rolled onto his back on the ground and sat up, wishing that he had another hour to sleep in. Slowly, everyone in the room started to shuffle around and get ready for the day. They were mostly ready (and everyone had already harassed Sirius enough about Tasha for the day) when Lily burst into their room, not bothering to knock.

"Evans?" Sirius asked blankly, not really registering that she had just barged into their room. She ignored him and walked over to Remus, who seemed rather concerned at this turn of events. Lily said something to him and she seemed almost frantic. She was shaking her head and moving her hands. Sirius caught the words "I don't know what to do". James, for his part, didn't look particularly thrilled that she had burst into his room to talk to anyone but him. Remus looked disturbed but also appeared to be trying to calm Lily down. He heard the werewolf say, "I don't know though Lils…are you sure she's not just pulling your leg?" Lily didn't like that question and shook her head and Sirius could have sworn she was next to tears. "Okay, okay I'm just making sure." He soothed her and she seemed to calm down and after a moment she left. Everyone exchanged looks.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Frank asked him slowly. Remus looked uncomfortable, like he wanted to say what had just happened but couldn't.

"It…I don't know. Honestly, she just wants me to look into something is all. I'm going to hit the Library tonight after class." Remus said absently and everyone nodded and didn't ask any more questions. They were down in the Great Hall when Marlene and Alice walked in. They sat down away from the guys; they all exchanged looks. Even without Lily and Dany there, they were still friends for the most part. The two girls had a reason to avoid them, Sirius was sure. Sirius stood up and went over to the concerned-looking girls.

"Hey guys…did we do something to offend you? Because last time I checked, we're all friendly." He said slowly. Alice looked at him like she just realized he was there.

"Oh, no you guys didn't do anything wrong. We didn't even see you down there, honestly." She said. Sirius nodded, only half-believing them.

"Where are Dan and Lily?" He asked them and they both automatically tensed. There was something wrong. Something wrong with Dany or Lily.

"Lily is writing a letter and Dany woke up sick this morning; fever, throwing up, the whole nine. She's staying in bed today." Marlene said and Sirius could see her lie clear as day. Lily probably was writing a letter but there was no way Dany was that sick; he had just seen her last night. As soon as he said this, he noticed that Rhaegar was also absent from the Great Hall.

"That's nice McKinnon, now what's really wrong with Dany? That might be the worst lie I've ever seen and Frank's a pretty awful liar." Sirius told her shortly. Marlene narrowed her eyes at him.

"Be as that may, Black; we're not telling you anything. You may be _her_ friend, but don't think we're overly fond of you. We tolerate you and we tolerate James for her sake. Besides, this is beyond any of us." Marlene said and Sirius glared at her. Then what she had said caught up with him. 'This is beyond any of us'. There was something much more wrong than a head cold. Suddenly Lily walked into the Great Hall and she walked over to her friends. She looked at Sirius.

"Sirius…we need to talk."

"Lils, are you sure he—"

"Dan trusts him and I think that means we should too, especially with this. Besides, he'll find out on his own anyways; Daniel likes him too much to keep his mouth shut." Lily said to her friends. "Sirius, we need to talk. And we should probably do it down there." He looked at her questioningly. Her voice lowered. "Where there are fewer ears." He nodded and followed her to the very end of the Gryffindor table.

"Lily what the hell is going on?" He asked and she sat down. He sat down next to her.

"I don't know…it started the morning after we came back from break. I went to go wake up Dany but she woke up on her own, gasping. When she opened her eyes I could have sworn they were gold for a second, which is insane, right? But then she gets up and starts drawing this…this _thing_ and it was so beyond her in skill and she did it in like fifteen minutes and then all of a sudden she looks at me and she has no idea what just happened. She didn't even remember getting out of bed. I looked into it in the Library and I didn't find anything, and I even checked the restricted section so I asked Remus to check and he didn't see anything either. We let it go because it didn't happen again, but…"

"It happened again last night." Sirius said and Lily nodded. She was freaked, that much was obvious.

"It happened again and this time she was hysterical, screaming and crying, saying things that were crazy, she didn't make any sense. She was saying that you were hurt over and over again and she kept writing the same sentence again and again. It was so scary. Eventually she stopped and she didn't remember any of it. I just flooed her dad but I got his secretary, he'll probably be here in the hour." Lily said and she started to cry. Sirius hugged her awkwardly and to his surprise she started sobbing into his shoulder.

"Evans, we don't need to crying right now, alright? She stopped and her dad's on his way. She's going to be okay. I noticed Rhaegar wasn't at breakfast."

"He's with her right now in his room. I'm just waiting for her dad to get here." Lily said and the doors to the Great Hall banged open; it was Professor McGonagall, who came rushing into the Great Hall. She made it only halfway to Professor Dumbledore before the room went completely silent. Everyone turned towards the door. Lily was done waiting; the Minister was here and he looked unhappy, _very_ unhappy. People slowly started to stand up as a sign of respect. He looked like he didn't really care but stopped to shake a couple of hands and responded occasionally when someone said "Minister Daniel". His eyes flitted down the tables, searching, and he saw Lily. He walked over to where she was with Sirius.

"Lily. Thank you for calling me. Where is she?" Daniel said tersely. Sirius had only seen the look in the Minister's eyes once in his life. Dany had worn that same look when someone had told her that her brother had just been moved from the Hospital Wing to St. Mungo's after being attacked by a group of Slytherins.

"She's with Rhaegar in his room. He couldn't get to us because of the stairs so we brought her to him. Please let me know if there's anything we can do, any of us." She said and Daniel's eyes flickered to Sirius.

"Sirius Black. I wish I were seeing you again under better circumstances. Both of you, if you don't mind accompanying me to Gryffindor Tower?" He said and they both shook their heads. "Ah, yes I should probably tell James what is happening…excuse me for one moment." He said and walked down the table to speak to his Godson. James stood and gave him a brief hug and they spoke for a moment. James nodded and soon Professor Dumbledore approached them.

Daniel said something to the Headmaster and the older man nodded. Remus, Frank, and Peter all stood up and all four of them accompanied the Minister down the table. They collected Marlene and Alice on their way by. The entire hall was still staring.

"Lily, James, Sirius you're exempt from classes all day, the rest of you get your first class off. Now I ask that we all go before I lose my bleeding mind." He said and all nine of them left the Great Hall and walked silently up to Gryffindor Tower. "I suggest you all set up camp in the boys' room. Marlene and Alice, if you don't mind filling these boys in on why they're not in class. Sirius, Lily, you'll come with me." He said and everyone nodded. This was hardly the same man that he had seen on New Years; there was no laughing or jokes, he wasn't becoming more human by the second like he had been over dinner. This man was a machine; it was like he wasn't really feeling anything right now. He was on automatic.

They all walked upstairs and they passed the Third Year room and walked into the Sixth Year room. It looked very much like their own, Sirius thought, messier maybe but still the same. There were more pictures on the wall and there were no distinct lines between whose space was whose; these boys were practically brothers by now. In one of the beds farthest from the door was Dany. Her brother was sitting at the foot of it looking tense and concerned. As soon as the door opened, Rhaegar looked up and sagged over with relief.

"Dad, you're here. Lily, you're amazing." He said to the redhead. "Black. Is there a reason you're here?" He asked not so kindly.

"Enough Rhaegar. He's your sister's friend and I don't want to hear this nonsense about blood being thicker than water right now. Your mother berates me enough as it is for allowing him near her. I've ignored her so far and I fully intend to do the same to you on this topic." Daniel snapped at his son, who looked like he really wanted to say something but he held his tongue. Sirius raised his eyebrows and then looked at the ground. Had he known he was a point of contention in their house? No. Did he now? Hell yes. Rhaegar sat on the bed closest to the door silently watching. Dany looked up and scowled.

"Will you all shut up? I'm not a bloody invalid you know. Sirius stays, Lily stays, Rhaegar you're welcome to stay but I can't force you like I can these two." She said sharply, very much like her father. Rhaegar didn't move. "Good. Now would someone like to tell me what the hell is happening to me?" She asked quieter. Her father sat down next to her. Lily and Sirius exchanged a look and sat down on the bed adjacent to them.

"They're night visions." Her father said quietly. Dany looked at him like he was mad.

"Those are a myth, they're not real. Mom always said that you told us about them as a bedtime story." Rhaegar said. Dany nodded.

"I'm with him on this, Daddy. Are you sure?" She said. Sirius saw Lily smile a little at the fact she still called her father 'Daddy'. It was pretty cute he had to admit.

"Let me guess; you go to sleep, everything's normal, right? Until you start dreaming, when you dream there are people you recognize, people you know. Except they're older. They're older by a little or maybe by a lot. Either way, it never takes place in the past. And it's like a loop, the same thing again and again over and over. Then next thing you know, you're not in bed and there's a picture of your dream that you drew but don't remember drawing. How close am I?" Her father said. Dany nodded.

"Very. Except for one thing…I don't always know the people." She said quietly.

"What do you mean? You _have_ to know the people. You don't see them until you meet them." Her father countered. Dany handed him a sheet of folded paper and he opened it and looked at it. "This is Azkaban Prison. Dan, who is this?" He asked, putting the paper face down.

"I—I don't know. In my dream I just sit by the bars. I just sit and I cry and try to reach through the bars. I never see his face though. He never turns around." She said quietly. Her father looked at her piercingly.

"I hate to be there bearer of bad news but someone you know is probably going to Azkaban eventually." He said softly.

"What is that?" She said and pointed at part of the paper. Her father inspected it.

"When someone is processed into Azkaban, they're given a number. This here means that it's a high security prisoner but this part, there's no prisoner in Azkaban with this number. We haven't reached it yet." He said and Sirius found it rather disturbing that Dany knew a future high security prisoner.

"Daniel?" Lily said quietly from next to Sirius.

"Yes, Lily?"

"I don't know if this is important but when I woke her up, or tired to, during one of these—these _episodes_ her eyes seemed to be gold for a second." She said. The Minister seemed unsurprised but still not thrilled.

"It's a sign of seer blood. It's nothing additional to worry about." Dany crawled into her father's side.

"Would someone mind telling me what is exactly causing this?" Sirius said suddenly. Daniel and Rhaegar both looked over at him. Lily seemed thankful; he knew she had no idea what was happening either.

"Rhaegar, why don't you explain?" The Minister said before turning his attention back to his daughter who was whispering to him. Rhaegar cleared his throat.

"In the very first generations of our family, the first Minister's son actually, was born a seer. There was no known blood in the family but soon he started to have visions, make prophecies, the whole package. He was exceptionally powerful and some of the prophecies he predicted have yet to come true, they were seen so far in advance. However, generations passed and there wasn't another seer; the next one that had any trace of the sight in her was a woman. Except so much time had passed since the last person in the family with the sight, it was not nearly as powerful as it was in her ancestor. There were no prophecies and no grand predictions. But at night, she would see things, things that started coming true. But she slept alone in her own room and so everyone just regarded her as a weak seer. But then her grandson was born with the same sight, he too would have visions at night except this time, there was someone to witness it: his wife. She claimed that he would get up and start writing and drawing and all the while his eyes would glow gold. The only time the trance could completely consume him was when his conscious mind was asleep. That is what night visions are; it's weak seer blood manifesting. My sister is seeing the future." Rhaegar told them. Lily and Sirius exchanged a look.

"For now, she is." Daniel spoke up. "The visions have never lasted past 25, for some people the span is even shorter. They usually start around puberty and last anywhere from five to fifteen years…it won't be forever, Dan. I promise." He said to his daughter.

"When was the last one?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well it's not terribly common and the gift is known to skip a few generations…I do believe that the last person to have night visions in our family was, believe it or not, your great-grandmother, the first Danilynn Charlotte." He said thoughtfully. "It's a shame it skipped so many generations, it would have been good for you to have someone to go to who has personal experience. Besides, you would have liked my grandmother; you remind me of her sometimes. That's why we named you after her, you know. The healer gave you to me and you had this look on your face like you were going to tell me off for having dessert first." He said with a smile. Dany smiled but the look soon faded.

"I've had two." Dany told her father.

"Two? This is the only one that I've heard about." He said, holding up the paper that apparently had a picture of Azkaban on it.

"That was over a week ago. The one from last night is here." She said quietly and handed her father a crumpled up piece of paper with writing all over the back. He smoothed it out and examined both sides quickly. He raised his eyebrows.

"Do you know who this is?" Her father asked quietly. Dany nodded silently. Her father looked down at her and followed her gaze, directly towards Sirius. Shit, he thought to himself.

"Um, what is it you see in my future? I have the distinct feeling I'm not going to like it." He asked the room at large. Dany handed him the paper wordlessly. He looked at the front and he fought the urge to vomit. The worst part was that it was a true to life so he couldn't even blame her bad drawing for his banged up face. He didn't recognize himself at first he looked so hurt and damaged. He did recognize James near the foot of the hospital bed though. He looked not much older than he was now, five years at most, and James had his head in his hands, almost like he was praying. He flipped it over and read the back. _I'd take away your pain_ was written over and over on the back, filling up the entire sheet. It was disturbing to say the least. "Well that's cheery. I'm looking forward to it." He said hollowly and handed her the paper. Dany had "I'm sorry" written all over her face. It wasn't her fault at all, but she probably felt bad for showing him a picture of his beat up face that hadn't happened yet. Just something to look forward to. He idly wondered who was trying to take away (presumably) his pain.

"I brought you something, it's a sketchpad. You can keep it by your bed and anything that comes out will go here so you don't start drawing on the windows or something more noticeable than parchment." Her father handed his daughter a leather-bound book but when she opened it, all the pages were blank. "And please use a pencil, you'll be dumping ink all over yourself if you don't; it's a miracle you haven't spilled anything already." He told her and she smiled at him.

"Oh I have, Lily is just really good at cleaning up after me." She said with a smile at her best friend.

"Lily _does_ seem to be a good one to have around in a pinch, doesn't she?" Her father asked. Dany nodded. "You have to remember that what you see is not only a gift, it's also powerful. Nothing is more powerful than premonition. Never forget that, Sweetheart." She nodded and the Minister stood up. Dany got up with her father and Lily looked concerned. Dany waved her off and walked towards her brother.

"Hey Rae?" She asked her brother.

"Yeah?" He asked warily and out of nowhere she hugged her brother tightly.

"Thank you for sitting with me even though I'm just your shithead little sister. I still love you even though you hate my friend." She said into his chest and he hugged her back.

"Ah, I don't hate him. I just think that a friendship like this is…unique. It will be interesting to see it play out. Which we apparently will be doing to some extent." He told his sister softly. She let go of him and they both looked at their dad, who cleared his throat.

"I have to be going soon…I wasn't aware I'd be making this detour today and I've already had to cancel a meeting with Cornelius Fudge; he'll be livid I imagine." Daniel said airily.

"Serves him right, bloody arrogant prick. Thinks that he knows better than you do, the bloke's like eighteen and a nobody." Rhaegar muttered and Dany laughed in agreement.

"He really is an unfortunate human being, but I can't have him hating me any more than he does already. He may be a nobody now, but I doubt he'll stay that way." He turned towards Lily. "Lily, you're a sweet girl and I want to see you at my home this summer, you hear?" She nodded and he hugged her quickly. "Sirius, it appears that no matter how hard my wife and son try, you'll still be around so I'd like to congratulate my daughter and I in advance for being so persistent and stubborn. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." He said and they shook hands. The Minister hugged his son and then his daughter who clung onto him like she was drowning. He kissed her forehead and whispered something to her. Then Dany's father vanished out the door, leaving them all standing there. Even though nothing had really changed since yesterday, it felt like _everything_ had changed.

* * *

When Daniel had walked into the Great Hall, James had felt his heart fall to his feet. Then he had spoken to Lily and Sirius. Then he had come over to his Godson. He looked worried. But James hugged him nonetheless.

"Daniel…what ar—"

"What am I doing here? Lily floo called my office; left a note with my secretary saying that Dany's sick. Except from what she told my office, she doesn't sound sick. I think she inherited night visions." He said quietly. James raised his eyebrows. He had heard stories of night visions in his childhood from Daniel, the same ones that he told his children.

" _They're real_?" He hissed. Daniel nodded.

"Very much so…ah, Albus, good to see you." He said to Dumbledore, who had just approached them.

"Daniel, a pleasure as always. However, I must ask what it is you're doing in the castle so unexpectedly?" The headmaster said politely.

"I'm sorry for the lack of notice but I received a notice from one of my daughter's friends this morning that she was sick, but from her description it appears to be something…genetic, if you understand my meaning." Daniel said delicately. The nighttime visions were a highly guarded secret, only known to those close to the Masters family. Albus nodded.

"Of course, I know how you are regarding your daughter. You must want to see her immediately…I'm assuming she is with your son?" Daniel nodded in affirmation. "Yes, well you are more than welcome to anything we have to offer here at Hogwarts. Mr. Potter, I'm assuming that you'll be joining them. I remember the last time someone in this castle developed…that particular habit; she was in desperate need of her friends. They should all take their first class off to be with her. Miss Evans and Mr. Black should have the whole day, as well as young Mr. Potter here. This is a rare phenomenon that can be quite a burden from what I hear." Professor Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "I assure you Daniel, I'll keep an eye on her in this…exciting time in her life." Daniel nodded again and thanked his old headmaster.

Now, they were all sitting in the boys' room, waiting for Lily and Sirius to come back with news of what exactly happened. None of them knew why the Minister of Magic pulled them from the Great Hall; all they knew was that something was wrong with Dany and he seemed to be the only one that knew what it was. James was trying to give them the gist of the condition.

"They're called night visions. It's a kind of…well it's what it sounds like. They're visions that only happen when she's asleep."

"Like prophetic visions? Like a seer?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, they're prophetic but she's not a seer. She had a seer in her family very, very long ago but the blood is so diluted by now that she can only remotely see anything when she's asleep and the rational mind is turned off." James elaborated.

"What about the drawing? And the writing?" Marlene asked. Apparently she had been unfortunate enough to actually witness one.

"It's…kind of like a traditional prophecy but that's the only way it can manifest itself because of the weakness of the blood."

"And the eyes? I know I saw her eyes go gold James Potter."

"It's a sign of seer's blood. Guys, she's fine. Besides, night visions kick in at puberty, if they kick in at all, and stop by 25 at the latest. It's not forever and it's not dangerous. Just relax. Someone will be back in here soon with news." James said. He was getting a migraine at this rate. He'd need the whole day off because he'd be sitting in a dark room trying to get his head to stop throbbing. Suddenly the door opened but it wasn't Dany, Lily, or Sirius. It was Daniel. Everyone stood up and he waved a hand tiredly.

"Don't bother, please. I'm bloody sick of everyone always standing up when I walk in a damn room. I just came in to tell you all that she's fine. She'll be down with Lily and Sirius in a bit. James, I'm leaving back to work so if there's anything you want me to tell your folks…" He trailed off. James shrugged.

"Tell Dad that I'm getting lots of detention and tell Mom I'll mail her dungbombs if she ever makes me wear another suit again. And tell them both that I love them and to stay safe." He said. Daniel nodded with a smile.

"I'll pass that along but you're responsible for any bodily harm that befalls me when I tell your mother that." He laughed.

"You're my Godfather, you're supposed to take the fall for all the stupid shit I do. That's what Godfathers and brothers are for." James retorted and Daniel had no answer for that.

"Alright, I'm out of here. See you all probably over summer. You stay safe James Potter, you hear me?" He said and James hugged him quickly.

"Yeah, yeah _you're_ worried about _me_? The whole damn world is worried about you. Try not to get yourself blown up or something. Dan would be real disappointed." Daniel smiled and with a final goodbye, left the room.

"You never said that Dany's dad was your Godfather." Remus said absently as he stared at the ceiling, bored.

"Yeah…Rhea's my Godmother too. We kind of just switched. My parents are her Godparents and vice versa. I think they cut a deal when we were born or something, to be honest. They're good people, they really are." James said and everyone went back to silently sitting around until the door opened again and this time it was Sirius, Lily, and Dany. Everyone looked up and grinned.

"Masters! We thought you were down for the count!" Frank cheered and Dany laughed.

"Nah, you guys aren't getting rid of me that easily. My family's hard to kill. I'm just temporarily psychic now is all." She said and then glanced at James. "Did you explain…?" He nodded and she relaxed. "Really you all, I'm good. I'm the same person I was yesterday; I promise I don't know anything about anyone's untimely demise or anything like that. What why aren't all of you in class?" She asked suddenly. Marlene checked the time.

"Well Dumbledore gave all of us Potions off and then these three, lucky them, get the whole day off to watch you. It's okay we all know that you four are closer than we are. Speaking of class, Potions just ended and I do believe we have Defense next. We've gotta go." The other Marlene, Alice, Frank, Peter, and Remus all stood and left with parting words all along the lines of "feel better Dany" and "I'm glad you're not dying after all".

Once all five of them left. The four of them were left sitting on the ground of the room. Dany looked at all of them.

"What _the fuck_ is happening to our lives, you guys?" She quietly said. James quite agreed.

What the fuck, indeed.


	7. Only for the Night

_Disclaimer: Not mine, except for OCs and the plot_

 _Hey guys! So I'm back and it's great and I have to be honest, this fic is way longer than what's posted because I've been too lazy to post (sorry) but I'm going to fix that and starting today, I'll be more productive and share what I have written for you lovelies!_

 _So just by the way, things are only just heating up for our favorite four Hogwarts students and there's someone mentioned in this chapter that I'd keep an eye out for later on! And keep an eye on Sirius' girlfriend too, he has a few throughout and I'll tell you now, one of them is absolutely crazy. Try and guess which one!_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

Tonight you're perfect,  
I wanna fall in love with the stars in your eyes  
Tonight you're perfect  
I wanna fall in love but only for the night

~ _Tonight You're Perfect_ , New Politics

* * *

Dany woke up Saturday morning blissfully vision free. She'd been having the same one over and over again in variations. Seeing Sirius wounded, dying even, almost every night was really getting to her. And no matter what else changed she would always hear herself whispering the same words: I'd take away your pain. She was snapped out of her daydreaming by Marlene yelling.

"Get up you lot! It's time for Hogsmeade!" She called out and immediately girls started to roll out of bed and start to move around, trying to find clothes to wear that were warm enough to keep out the late January chill. Dany ran her hands through her hair and started to rummage through her trunk as everyone else did the same. They weren't kidding anyone; Hogsmeade trips were prime clothes-sharing events. Sure enough, the exchange started.

"Hey Dan? Can I borrow your green scarf?" Alice called out. Dany threw it to her and then turned towards Lils.

"Hey Lils you know those boots of yours that I adore?" Dany said casually. They landed at her feet moments later. "Thanks." Lily grinned in response.

"Hey Marles? How about sharing the love with that black jacket?" Lily said and Marlene threw it onto the other girl's bed with a laugh.

"So…Al you know I really like that one particular shade of lipstick, right?" Marlene said with a grin and Alice tossed the lipstick at her head.

"You might as well keep it; you're the only one that ever uses it, honestly. I hate the bloody color." Alice said and Marlene perked up.

"I love you forever, girlfriend." She said and put it on. A few minutes later, all of the girls were dressed and getting ready to leave the room and were picking up their bags and wands. Dany pushed her wand into the side of her boot and grabbed her bag. She saw Lily slip her wand into one of the inside pockets of the jacket she was wearing and Marlene and Alice both dropped theirs into their bags. So traditional, Dany thought to herself with a smile.

"Alright, everyone ready? Everyone have their wand?" Lily asked the room. She got three affirmative answers. "Let's go then." They all left the room and walked down the stairs to be met with James, Remus, and Peter. Frank apparently had yet to come downstairs.

"Hey you four. Dany you look lovely as always." James said with a grin.

"Thank you James; I'll be sure to tell your mother that you use your manners." She said with a knowing laugh. James sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. The woman's been on me for months about being 'polite' and 'a gentleman'. It's enough to make me break out in hives." He said and Dany patted him on the arm.

"It's okay, man. We've all been there…you should have seen Rae when our mom kept hounding him about opening doors for me. I think he almost broke my nose by slamming them in my face at least three times." She said and James laughed. "Yeah it was real funny until my dad threatened to spank him if he did it again."

"Did he do it again?"

"Of course he did. And you can say a lot about my dad but he has some killer follow-through; Rae couldn't sit down comfortably for a couple days and that was the end of that." She said, recalling the day with amusement. Her brother had been less than impressed with the fact that he had been paddled at the age of eleven. James snorted. Marlene looked around curiously.

"Where's Black? It's not like him to miss an opportunity to go to Zonko's." She said and James rolled his eyes.

"He's going to Hogsmeade with Tasha Norton. He said he'd catch up with us later. He'll probably have her with him though. Oh, and Dan he said to remind you that you promised to play nice." James said with a grin. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Can we get on with the day already?" She asked and Lily was practically bouncing on her feet.

"We said we'd wait for Frank. Sorry Dan, you'll just have to wait." Remus said and Dany groaned. She knew Alice and Marlene would stay because Alice totally was in love with Frank and she'd want to see him.

"Ugh, you all are boring. Come on Dan, I'll go with you. We'll catch up with you guys later!" Lily called back as she linked arms with Dany and the two practically skipped out of the common room. Once they were out of the castle and walking towards the village, they let go of each other and set a comfortable pace.

"You knew Sirius was going with Tasha?" Lily asked questioningly. Dany nodded.

"Yeah I knew. I was in the common room when he came back from 'tutoring' her and he told me. That's when I told him I'd be nice; that might have been a mistake now that I think about…she could be a right bitch and now I'm defenseless." Dany replied with a laugh. Lily laughed but still rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe you agreed to be nice to her. That's so…considerate of you. I still think the less believable part of this is that Sirius and Tasha are a thing. She's…awfully nice." Lily said delicately. Dany knew what she was thinking.

"She _is_ a little shallow, isn't she?" Dany giggled quietly. Lily nodded with a grin.

"She's just such a ditz! Who pretends to be bad at something just to get a guy's attention?" Lily said, finally saying what she was really thinking. Dany laughed.

"I know, right? Besides, it's just insulting to those of us who _actually_ need help in Charms. Now everyone is going to think that I just want some guy to feel up my shirt in an empty classroom somewhere in the castle when I ask for help. There's a difference. It just makes it uncomfortable for those of us who actually suck at it." Dany said, bemoaning her own, very real, problems in the subject.

"Yeah well now you definitely can't ask Sirius for help. He'll just think that you're looking for a date; unless you are, which is cool too." Lily responded, bumping her friend's shoulder with a wink. Dany jokingly shoved her friend back.

"Yeah go ahead and laugh it up, Evans. Just don't come crying to me when you realize that you're actually deeply and madly in love with James." She retorted. Lily shut up on the subject rather quickly after that.

The two girls reached the village and Dany felt Lily shiver next to her as the girls walked closely together as to share body heat and not become separated.

"How about we hit up Honeydukes? I can feel you shivering from here, Lils." Dany said and Lily nodded gratefully at her friend. The two girls walked in and were hit with a blast of warm air. Lily sighed happily at the warmth and the smell of chocolate. Dany agreed with that assessment of the shop.

"Alright Danilynn, here's the deal: I'm not allowed to spend anymore than this" she handed Dany a handful of money, "in here. Stop me if I go crazy and remind me of that budget." Lily said seriously. Dany nodded with a smile and pocketed the money. Lily was so ridiculous about chocolate and sweets. She just couldn't help herself from trying to buy everything in sight. Dany decided that if Lily ran over budget, she'd cover it; no one deserved to be robbed of all of that joy because of money. She followed her friend around, occasionally picking up something for herself. By the time they had walked through the entire store, Lily was so far over budget that it was laughable.

"Lily…I think I can hear your pocketbook screaming from here." Dany said with a grin. Lily looked down at her basket and her face fell. Dany rolled her eyes and took it from here. "I'll pay for it. But I'm keeping that money you gave me when we walked in." She told her friend.

"Dan, you don't need to pay for my chocolate vice. That makes you an enabler, you know." She said. Dany waved a hand at her.

"Please. What's all this money good for if you can't indulge your friend's addiction to candy?" Dany told her and Lily recognized that tone as a 'this is not open to negotiation' voice. Dany handed the basket to the cashier whose eyes widened. He was a man in his mid-twenties and had a serious case of acne. All in all, not a cute boy. She saw him look at her hair; recognition flashed across his face.

"Wow, hungry?" He said with a laugh. Dany didn't laugh back.

"You have no idea how much chocolate I eat when I'm…hormonal." She said seriously. Lily snorted behind her and tried to smother her laughs. The guy's eyes widened even more and his face turned crimson. The speed that he bagged the chocolate sped up exponentially after that. Dany paid with a smile and the guy grabbed the money and almost threw the change at her. "Thank you!" She said brightly and the guy muttered something she didn't catch as they walked out.

As they walked through the door Dany handed the bag to Lily who was doubled over laughing.

"You've got to be joking. That actually just happened. You actually just said that. There's going to be a headline…ah, I can see it now 'Danilynn Masters goes on raging chocolate binges while on period'. Man, I might frame that one. It just might be worth it." Lily said through her giggles. Dany giggled too.

"His face was pretty funny, wasn't it?" Dany admitted.

"He started literally throwing things into bags and almost shoved us out the door! That was amazing; you just made my life. Ah, this is why we're friends." Lily laughed and put an arm around her as the girls walked through town, the wind whipping their hair around their faces. Dany was rather glad she had been able to make such a good start to the day.

"You know our hair probably looks crazy right now." Dany told her absently. She thought about what they probably looked like; long, bright red hair mixing with her own long white locks in the wind.

"Probably. Well at least we're not easy to miss." Lily said with a grin. Dany nodded in agreement. They would be quite hard to miss with their distinctive hair colors. "Oh! I need a new quill…because someone jammed my favorite one into a wall of the Hogwarts Express." Lily said wryly. Dany felt her face heat up.

"Sorry about that. I _do_ feel bad about that. It's not salvageable at all?" She asked guiltily.

"No, the tip's ruined. Flat as a pancake; your magic might have impaled it into the wall but that didn't stop it from being squished into a pitiful excuse for a writing utensil." Lily said with a small grin. Dany put her hands over her face.

"I'm sorry! I just…lost control. I let my emotions get out of hand." Dany said and Lily laughed.

"It's okay, I forgive you. Besides, it wasn't expensive or anything. I'll use this opportunity to upgrade. I think it's time anyways." Lily said and they walked into Scrivenshaft's Quills to fins the perfect quill for Lily.

* * *

Lily was wandering around, looking for her ideal quill when she heard the door open. She turned around and saw it was just Marlene and Alice. She relaxed; she had, for a wild moment, thought it was Sirius and Tasha and that was an encounter that she wanted to avoid for as long as humanly possible. She had nothing against Tasha except for the fact that she was on a date with the guy Dany liked; the problem was Dany. She wouldn't fight or pull the other girl's hair, she wouldn't act out or be rude; she'd be nothing but pleasant to Tasha because she had expressly promised Sirius she'd do so. But Lily had a distinct feeling that Tasha Norton would be less than impressed with her new boyfriend's friendship with Lily's own silver-haired best friend, which was something that Lily was eager to avoid. At least for today. Alice walked over as Marlene started chatting with Dany near the door.

"Hey Lils. Looking for anything in particular?" She asked as she started examining a box of quills next to where Lily was standing.

"Not really; I just need a replacement. What about you?" Lily replied as she considered a pretty quill that looked as if it had come from an eagle. It was too long, she decided.

"Same…mine are all blunt and they're starting to make writing a little tricky. Homework's bad enough without the problem of not being able to write legibly." Alice said.

"True…speaking of homework, have you started McGonagall's essay yet? I've been trying to think of a good place to start it and I've come up with nothing." Lily asked. Alice shook her head.

"No, sorry. But you probably wouldn't want to ask me anyways; I'm dreadful at Transfiguration, I have to study _way_ too hard for that class. Maybe Marles could help you out though." She suggested. Lily nodded; she hadn't really been expecting Alice to have actually started but she had looked flattered that Lily had bothered to ask her, which was good enough for the redhead. But she still had no idea where to start her essay.

"I might do that…what do you think about this one?" Lily said and held up a quill that was originally an owl feather. Alice nodded.

"I like it. I think I might get one too actually. You have good taste, girl." She said and Lily smiled.

"We can have matching quills. It's a bond that can never be broken." She said with a laugh. The two girls checked out together and walked back over to Dany and Marlene. Lily caught the end of their conversation.

"Marlene, you're bullshitting me. There's absolutely no way…" Dany was saying.

"No way what?" Lily said as they neared the two girls. Marlene grinned.

"Word on the street is that Brady Harris has a thing for Dan." She said quietly and Alice and Lily both gasped. Brady was a year older than them and was a keeper on Ravenclaw's Quidditch team. He was known for being quite a good player on the field and also for being really cute. Lily was quite excited for her friend if it was true. Dany groaned.

"No, not you two also…I was just telling Marlene that there's absolutely no way because what kind of guy likes a girl in the year _below_ him?" Dany argued as they all walked out of the store. Lily shrugged.

"You don't know…besides, all guys in this school are morons if they don't like you." Alice said. And Marlene nodded. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, guys. But seriously he could date, like, anyone in the entire school. I'd even bet some guys would jump teams. I don't really see why he'd have a thing for _me_ …I mean don't get me wrong, I don't have horrendous self-esteem issues or anything; I think I'm cute but…just not like that." She said with a shrug and Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Well, if he asks you out what are you going to say?" Alice asked excitedly. Dany thought about it for a moment.

"I don't know…I've hardly ever talked to him. That's kind of a problem." She said and Marlene waved a hand.

"Please, when you have a face and body like that, you don't _need_ to talk." She said dreamily and the other girls, even Dany, laughed.

"Oh look, it's James. Hi James!" Dany yelled, quickly changing the subject. She practically sprinted over to James, Remus, Peter, and Frank. Lily watched her talk to them.

"Damn. Brady Harris. He's one fine specimen." She said absently and the other two nodded in agreement as Dany waved them over.

"You guys want to get lunch at the Three Broomsticks? The guys were just headed there and we _do_ need to eat eventually." She said. They all exchanged looks and nodded.

"Sure, lead the way guys." Marlene said for them all. Lily looked at Dany as if to say 'this discussion isn't over' and Dany stuck her tongue out at her as she walked next to James towards the pub. All eight of them walked in and found a table that would fit them all comfortably, with chairs to spare even. They all talked about what they had done so far and (not shockingly) the boys had raided Zonko's to such an extent that they had to temporarily close the shop to restock the shelves. The girls almost snorted out their butterbeer through their noses as Remus told the story. James was doubled over in laughter, and Frank and Peter looked rather proud of themselves.

"Damn shame Sirius wasn't there…he would have loved that." James said almost wistfully and Alice grinned.

"Careful James, you don't want people getting the wrong idea about you and Black." She said with a wink and everyone laughed at the mortified expression.

"We're not _gay_ thank you very much, Prewett." He said, still horrified. Dany laughed and threw a wadded up napkin at him from down the table. It hit in on the nose, making Lily laugh, despite herself.

"I don't know, I hear the way you talk about him when you haven't seen him in a few weeks; it's like you've lost your only love." She said and everyone laughed harder. Lily could have sworn she was going to break something from laughing this hard. She glanced up to check the time. Under the clock she had just examined were Sirius and Tasha. Shit, she thought to herself, well today was nice while it lasted. She accidentally caught Sirius' eye by staring and he smiled at them and James grinned and called out to his best friend.

"See what I mean?" Dany asked the table and they all laughed, except for James who hadn't heard her. Sirius and Tasha walked over. Tasha looked a little unhappy with this sudden turn of events, Lily thought. People had been stealing the empty chairs at their table leaving only two. One was next to Remus, and across from Dany, and the other was (because the world liked laughing at Lily's worries) next to Dany. Tasha took the seat next to Dany while Sirius sat next to Remus. Lily didn't miss the look Sirius gave her best friend. "Play nice," he mouthed to her and she rolled her eyes and made a face at him; Tasha hadn't noticed any of it. Dany turned to Tasha with a charming smile. Lily smirked; she was playing the poor girl so hard. It wasn't a real smile, it was the 'Minister's daughter' smile.

"So Tasha, how's your day been? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Dany by the way." She said.

"It's been good, I don't usually go to many places in Hogsmeade so it was a nice change. We went to Zonko's, which I've never done." She said sweetly and Lily fought the urge to bang her head on the table the girl was so vanilla.

"Yeah, speaking of that, apparently they had to close for like half an hour to restock the shelves. You guys hear about that?" Sirius said suddenly to the table.

"Yeah, that was our fault. Screaming shame that you missed it. Next time." James said with a typical troublemaker grin. Sirius laughed.

"You're joking. Can anyone verify this story? Lily?" Lily shook her head in response. "Dan?"

"I have no way of knowing, I was too busy watching Lils get a replacement quill for the one I broke." She said and Lily could have sworn that Sirius' expression flickered into something much more troubled than the careless smile he had on today. It was gone before Lily could be sure of anything.

"Hey, we totally did that!" James protested. Lily saw Dany and Sirius both smirk. She knew what was coming; they were thinking the exact same thing and they both knew it. Tasha was _not_ going to be impressed with the fact they could finish each other's sentences on occasion.

"You know James, there's a condition to account for this claim of yours." Sirius said, smiling a little.

"Yeah, they're called delusions of grandeur." Dany added on with a laugh before turning back to talk to the girl next to her. "So, what did you think about Zonko's? It was kind of overwhelming the first time, I thought."

"Yeah…there was a lot to look at. And I was kind of afraid to touch anything; I didn't know what any of it did." Tasha said. Dany nodded and Lily could tell by the way her fingers were twitching slightly that she was fighting to keep the conversation going.

"What else did you two do?" She asked and by the look on her face she was praying that someone intervened or the girl gave her a more interesting answer.

"Oh, we just walked around mainly." She said and Dany looked like she wanted to get up and smack her head into the nearest wall. Sirius apparently took mercy because he intervened.

"We went to Honeydukes, we must have been behind you two though because all of the chocolate noticeably missing." He said pointedly and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that Sirius Black. I wasn't the one who bought my own weight in chocolate." She said as she pointed a finger at him. "Well technically I bought it but it's not my chocolate. Neither my waistline nor my mother would thank me very much." She said and Lily laughed. To say that Rhea was a stickler for health would be an understatement.

"Your mom's a health freak?" He asked and she nodded.

"You didn't notice on New Years that there was salad galore and no dessert? Ah, thank whatever gods may be that my dad keeps chocolate hidden in the house. He's my favorite human ever, I tell you. Except sometimes Mom finds his stash and makes him pitch it." Dany replied with a laugh. Everyone at the table laughed, thinking about Dany's parents, except for Tasha who had never met the Minister or his wife.

"I saw the Minister at school last week. Was everything okay?" Tasha asked suddenly and everyone at the table continued to talk but Lily felt everyone tense. It was obvious that she didn't really care if everything was okay; Lily suspected she was just curious as to why the Minister had taken her boyfriend out of the Great Hall and was too afraid to ask him directly. Dany ignored the tense atmosphere and easily answered.

"Yeah, I was just sick and my dad is…protective of my brother and I. The message that Professor Dumbledore sent was a little too vague for his liking and he freaked out and…overreacted. No big deal." She said with a smile. Lily was impressed with her ability to play things off, as if the Minister barging into the Great Hall was nothing out of the ordinary. "Hey Marlene, go easy on the butterbeer. I don't want to be carrying you up to castle again. You're heavier than you look and I'll be damned if Lily and I have to carry you up ten flights of stairs as Alice holds the doors open." She suddenly said and her attention was diverted from the couple. Lily looked at them as they obliviously talked. Tasha was absolutely engaged, talking with her hands, making eye contact, and laughing. Sirius didn't look nearly as interested, looking at other things in the room frequently, including the white-haired girl directly across from him. They all paid their bills and left to go back towards the castle. Marlene and Alice fell in step with her just behind the happy couple and they all watched them. Dany was in front of them with James laughing as he suddenly broke out in dance with her and spun her around before they continued walking and talking. The rest of the guys were behind Lily, Alice, and Marlene.

"He doesn't like her that much." Marlene whispered quietly. The other two girls nodded. Sirius was absently listening to his date but Lily caught how he was making no effort to look at her as he walked.

"I think he's watching Dany with James." Alice said. Lily looked at how his head was positioned and she started to notice that his eyes were trained ahead watching where James had his arm around his Godsister and she was walking close to his side. She guessed he was trying to keep her warm, as Lily could see her shivering from about ten feet away.

"No doubt. She doesn't look too happy, does she?" Lily whispered and they all looked at Tasha, who had noticed that her boyfriend was paying more attention to the girl in front of him than the one next to him. She looked irritated to say the least.

"Why yes, yes she does." Marlene said with a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah and she definitely wasn't into Sirius talking to anyone but her at the Three Broomsticks." Lily muttered.

"Looked like she bloody wanted to claw Dan's eyes out." Alice agreed.

"I love them together so much. Dany and Sirius for life." Marlene whispered. Alice nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, I talked to Potter a bit on the train when she was patching up Sirius and he loves it too. We decided that it _had_ to happen. You should join the campaign. I may not like him, but I'll put up with him for the sake of _that_." Lily whispered and gestured in front of them. Marlene and Alice nodded.

"We're _so_ in."

* * *

Tasha Norton was nice enough, Sirius decided halfway through their "date" (as he thought of it in his head). She was cute and nice, even though she wasn't that notably smart or funny of a person. He had a pretty good time with her, for most of the day and when they walked into the Three Broomsticks, he expected it to be a continuation of that same pleasant, yet somehow dull, day. Then James had waved him over and they had walked over to where all of his friends were. Tasha had mentioned to him earlier that his friends kind of scared her so before they walked over, he had said "they're nothing to worry about, besides I'm sure they'll all be on their best behavior".

Timidly she had followed him over and had decided that Remus was more intimidating than sitting next to a girl so she sat next to Dany, leaving Sirius to sit across from Dany. He smiled at her and mouthed, "Play nice," at her and she had stuck her tongue out at him in response. Tasha had looked around and Dany had quickly struck up a conversation with her. It became evident that Tasha was terrified of Dany very quickly. She had been relatively shy all day, but nothing like the two word answers she was giving Dany about her day. Sirius couldn't take the dreadfully boring conversation any longer. So he had brought up the incident at Zonko's to give both of them an excuse to stop talking. Dany laughed when James had said it was their fault and Sirius glanced at her and could tell they were thinking the same thing.

"You know James, there's a condition to account for this claim of yours." He had said knowingly.

"Yeah, they're called delusions of grandeur" Dany had laughed, finishing his sentence. Dany had gone back to _trying_ to talk to Tasha, but she seemed even less cooperative than she had been minutes before. So finally, unable to watch this poor excuse for a conversation, Sirius talked to Dany directly. She had smiled at him gratefully for bailing her out. It was refreshing to talk to someone who could take what she dished out; no one could say Dany Masters didn't have a mouth on her. He wasn't worried about accidentally offending her, like he had been all day with Tasha. The longer he talked to Dany and they slipped back into an easy pattern of jokes the more he relaxed, despite being on his first ever date. But Dany had always been like that, the more he thought about it; she could calm him down, chill him out, even when he was so hyped or freaked that he wanted to go crazy and thought he was about to take a jump off the deep end. But that wasn't to say she was even keel; she was excitable and emotional and expressive but somehow she calmed him down.

Suddenly Tasha had mentioned Dany's father's appearance at school last week. And she came up with a lie so flawless that he half-believed it himself. Then she had turned away, telling Marlene to put the Butterbeer down and he had gone back to talking to Tasha; he was only half-listening. She was clearly excited to be there but he saw the looks that she was slipping Dany. She either didn't like her or was scared of her. Probably scared; she accidentally intimidated people based purely on her last name more than she knew.

Then they had all left and were walking back to the castle when Dany and James had started to dance and laugh and Sirius noticed how Dany's hair was the color of the snow under their feet. He responded to some question that Tasha asked him. James twirled Dany around like she was a little girl and she had played along and skipped under his arm. Then James had put an arm around her as she started to shiver. Sirius finally really listened to what Tasha was saying next to him.

"…Was a good day."

"Yeah, it was." Sirius said. He looked down at her and she looked unhappy with the whole situation right now. He thought this was weird considering that she had been perfectly happy for most of the day.

"We should do it again sometime…unless you don't want to, that is." Sirius smiled at her automatically. She was really nice, he reminded himself.

"Sure. Next time I come back I'll bring you." He said. He saw James pull his Godsister closer as she continued to shiver violently. Sirius was starting to worry that she was going to lose fingers or something, at this rate.

"So, you know her dad?" She said quietly.

"Whose? Dany's? Yeah I know him, Daniel's a good guy." Sirius said, not sure where this was going. This conversation had just taken a turn for the weirder. They had somehow gone from coming back to Hogsmeade to knowing Dany's father.

"Oh…that's nice. You know her whole family?" She said. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah…I mean I obviously know Rhaegar and I met her parents over break. Why do you ask?" He asked her suddenly. Her face turned red, not ready for the sudden question.

"Oh, um just curious is all. That whole family is kind of a mystery if you know what I mean; it's weird to talk to someone outside the family that knows them." She said evasively. Sirius thought she was probably lying to some extent but said nothing about it. He looked at her closely, trying to discern why he was interested in the Masters family when he noticed just how dark her hair was for a blonde. It was almost brown it was so dark.

"I never asked; what do your folks do?" He asked her and she smiled, glad that the attention was back on her.

"Oh, my dad crunches numbers for the Ministry in some department or another and my mom is mostly at home with my younger siblings but she works at a shop nearby sometimes for some extra money and to get away for a bit. It's a Muggle store, she doesn't mind that we're all magic but being surrounded by magic kind of freaks her out." She said easily. He suddenly felt inexplicably safe. She was a safe girl with no danger or risk. A nice, cute, half-blood girl whose parents had good, yet middle-class, jobs. She was a type of girl that anyone who had normal parents would be told to date and be happy with. She was safe and presentable. She was comfortably inside the low-risk zone. They all entered the castle and James let go of Dany in the warm air.

"Oh, that's interesting…well the fact your dad does numbers is rather dreadful, I hate math, but it's cool he works for the Ministry. I think I'd like to work there one day." He said thoughtfully and Tasha looked rather bitter for a second.

"I'm sure it won't be too hard for _you_ with, well you know, your connections. The rest of us might have to work a bit harder though." She said. Sirius looked at her and laughed a little.

"You've got to be joking. That family works purely on a merit-based system. You get what you give and you give what you have. That's how it is with them, with all of them…they haven't stayed in power for this long by accident." He said to her. Tasha shook her head.

"Whatever you say…this is me." She said and she smiled. This was the turn-off to the Kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room. He smiled at her and before he could think too much about it, he kissed her. She kissed him back for a second then left, her face bright red. Sirius thought about that for a second and was rather disappointed by it. He heard laughter from behind him and saw Lily, Marlene, Alice, Remus, Frank, and Peter behind him. They all broke out in applause and he felt his face turn slightly red.

"Aww, it's so cute Lils!" Marlene exclaimed and the girls walked by laughing. Remus, Peter, and Frank walked up with him the rest of the way to the tower. They all said that it wasn't embarrassing at all and that the girls were just giving him a hard time. They reached the common room and the rest of his friends were sitting by the fire, laughing and talking. Lily was talking in a low voice into Dany's ear and she was listening with raised eyebrows. James was talking to Marlene and Alice and they had all shed their jackets and coats long ago. Dany said something back to Lily and they both laughed. Lily turned away from her and pulled Alice out of her conversation with James and Marlene. Sirius sat down in the circle, in the spot Lily had left open.

"How was your date?" She asked him softly. Sirius jumped at the question.

"It…it was okay, I guess." He said, trying to come up with the right word for it. 'Okay' was the best one he could think of, which was rather depressing, the more he thought about it. She smiled.

"That's good. She's a cute girl. She has pretty hair." Dany said absently. Sirius looked at her. "What? Just because I'm a straight girl doesn't mean that I can't notice if someone is cute or not. I probably notice things like that more than you do." She said.

"Bullshit." He argued. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll prove it. Did you notice how good Lily's skin looks right now? Or how about how well Alice's scarf compliments her shirt? Or how about the shade of lipstick Marlene is wearing? Did you notice that it was a good color for her?" Dany said and Sirius stared. He had no idea what she had just said.

"I have no idea what half of that means, I'm not going to lie." He said and she laughed victoriously.

"See? Girls spend more time judging each other and themselves then guys do. We have you smoked on looking at girls." She said and he raised his eyebrows.

"There's no way you all sit around judging yourselves."

"That's absolutely what girls do; they do it, I do it, we all do it. We can't help but think _we're_ the ugly duckling of the group." She said with a shrug. "Such is life though, I suppose." He raised his eyebrows. Dany was exceptionally pretty and so was Lily. Marlene and Alice weren't unattractive either. There really wasn't an _ugly_ one in that group of girls; it really was more a competition of who stood out the most.

"Dany, I promise you that you're not ugly. None of you are. That's just ridiculous that you all do that." He told her and she looked flattered but nevertheless shrugged.

"Thanks…but I don't think I'm ugly, I think I'm alright honestly, but it's not about being ugly, it's about being the least pretty. There's a difference. But still, thank you." She said with a smile. "But anyways, back to the original point, she's a cute girl. She seems…nice, but I don't think she likes me much. But whatever, she's not my girlfriend." She said blowing off the fact that his girlfriend didn't like her.

"Why don't you think she likes you?" He asked and she laughed, throwing her head back, the light from the fire catching on her hair so it seemed to almost glow like a halo.

"You seriously missed the fact that she was glaring holes into the back of my head on the way back to the castle? She might as well have told me 'die bitch die' to my face. But that doesn't matter, really. I can handle the hatred of one girl. She definitely likes you though." She said.

"Yeah, I like her I think. She just…she's kind of boring sometimes, to be honest." He admitted. She smiled at him softly.

"You could probably use some boring in your life, honestly. Better her and a boring relationship than someone else and something out-of-control. All of our lives are too out-of-control as it is. Someone needs to be a little stable around here." She said earnestly and he nodded.

"That's true…I just didn't think I'd ever date someone so, well, ordinary." He told her and he meant it. He had never really thought about a relationship but he always assumed that it would be extraordinary in some aspect.

"That's how life is…it never ends up like you expect it to. Dad always said that life is what happens when you're not looking…I think he stole that from someone though." She said wryly. "Oh, and Sirius? Don't think that everyone's as ordinary as they look at first. I was just a brown-haired little kid when we met. I looked pretty ordinary and I was the Minister's daughter; don't let looks deceive you." She said before getting up and leaving for her room. Sirius watched her go and he realized what about Tasha had been bothering him since they had run into his friends. She seemed plain and ordinary in comparison to his best friend's brilliant and exceptional Godsister. The truth was that her blonde hair was dull next to the white hair that had just left the common room.

* * *

James was worried about Dany when they were walking back to the castle, she had been shivering intensely, more so than usual. When she had willingly let him wrap an arm around her and pull her into his side, he knew that she was freezing, sick, or both. He also noticed the looks that Tasha was shooting at his Godsister. Even at thirteen and fourteen, girls were still jealous bitches James thought to himself. He hadn't missed how Sirius had looked at Dany, right in front of his girlfriend and he'd be willing to bet his life that Tasha hadn't missed it either. They were now walking up the stairs to the common room and were now talking easily about their families.

"Hey, I'm just saying that diabetes is a definite possibility with all of that chocolate floating around your house." James informed her and Dany rolled her eyes.

"You're just jealous _my_ dad will tell me where he keeps his stash. I know Charlie's kept that his own personal secret since, like, forever." She retorted. James had to admit she was right. Rhea Masters wasn't the only health freak in their families; Dorea Potter was as stringent as they came about her own, and her family's, health. It was well known that Charlie kept a stash of chocolate somewhere either in the house or at work, but in all twenty-some years of marriage, his mother had never been able to find it; tragically, neither had James.

"Sounds like a house divided over there." James only half-joked. It really did seem like there were clear and unabashed teams in the Minister's house sometimes.

"Nah, this time it's everyone against Mom…even Rae isn't listening to her on this whole 'healthy foods only' crap. He says that he's a growing boy and needs sugar to maintain his energy levels or some bullshit. Truth is he just likes eating enough for a family of four." Dany said with a laugh. "Then again, he always has. I think his first words were 'more ham please'." James snorted at that. Sounded like the younger, much less dignified Rhaegar that he remembered from his childhood.

Recently, he had noticed the older boy's attempt to be more like his father; he was becoming more intent on grades and being 'polite' than anything else. James personally thought it was a lost cause, trying to be like Daniel; he had always been too much like their mother to truly emanate the Minister. He never shared his thoughts with anyone, but he always thought that the youngest of the family, Dany, would make a much better leader. He never shared his thoughts on this, even with Dany; she would take poorly to the idea that her brother couldn't do something. Even at fourteen, she still greatly looked up to him.

"I'll be sure to ask him about that next time I see him…speaking of, when's spring break?" James asked, referring to the new weeklong break in the school year that Dumbledore had instated last school year; he had insisted that the children go home to see their parents as many times a year as possible due to the precarious nature of the war. Everyone had been more than thrilled, to say the least.

"I'm not sure…sometime in March I think. Late March maybe? Early April? Somewhere in there." Dany said as they entered the common room. She got out of her coat and sat down on the floor next to the couch.

"I've got to say, I think this new break is the best thing Dumbledore has done so far." James said and Dany nodded in agreement. It was definitely a welcome reprieve from school, a month or so before exams started up. Soon, Lily, Alice, and Marlene walked in laughing about something. They all sat down near James and Dany and Marlene clarified what exactly they were giggling over.

"So Sirius just kissed Tasha Norton and it was hilarious. She was so embarrassed I thought her face was going to catch fire it was so red. And afterwards, you should have seen his face! It was a combo of 'what have I done' and 'that was anti-climatic'. It was a sight to see. Really, I'd say it was a shame you missed it, but I'm sure it'll happen again. Sooner rather than later." Marlene laughed and James couldn't help but laugh too. He noticed that Lily started whispering to Dany and Dany shook her head and something in return. As soon as she did, Lily turned around and James saw the rest of his friends walk into the common room. They were all talking and Sirius didn't seem out of the ordinary at all. He sat down next to Dany and she said something to him and they started talking quietly. James started talking to Alice and Marlene as an attempt to give his friends some privacy in their conversation. Marlene and Alice had identical looks of mischief on their faces.

"So James…Lily tells us that you two are campaigning for…a certain objective." Alice said, clearly choosing her words carefully. James raised his eyebrows. Trust girls not to be able to keep secrets from their friends.

"Hey don't worry, we're not going to tell her. We want in. Honestly, he's not on my list of favorite people but she is. And they make each other happy. And I'm a hopeless romantic at heart." Marlene said quietly. James nodded.

"Well, welcome to Mission Impossible." He told them and they laughed. Just then, Lily extracted Alice from the conversation and Marlene continued to chat with James.

"So, be straight with me; was it actually you guys who made Zonko's close?" She said with a grin. He nodded.

"It really was…we had to send Peter back to the castle with the spoils right after; we couldn't carry it all around town all day." He said and she laughed. James looked at her; in another world, he could really like Marlene. She was pretty, nice, funny, and smart as a whip too. Except he just couldn't get over Lily, not right now at least.

"Poor Peter, always the pack mule." She said with no sympathy. Peter wasn't on her list of favorite people either. Dany stood up with a final word to Sirius and went upstairs to go to bed. James nudged Marlene and she looked at Sirius, where he was quite obviously watching her walk upstairs. Except he wasn't looking at anything guys typically look at, he wasn't looking at her butt, he was looking at the back of her head, at her hair. Marlene smiled a little at him as if to say 'damn, this needs to happen'. James nodded. James checked the time and caught Remus' eye.

"Well, guys I think we're going to turn in." Remus said and all of the guys stood up and wished the girls a good night. They all climbed the stairs to their room and sat down on the floor. It was time to work on the map.

"Alright…where did we leave off? Near Flitwick's room, right?" Remus asked. James nodded and Sirius pulled his wand out ad Remus extracted a large book from under his bed and flipped through it until he found the right page. James sighed. This thing better be damn worth all this work.


	8. Your Perfect Reputation

_Disclaimer: :(_

 _Hey! So our little kids are growing up and there's a sort of big time jump in here, from about mid-February to about a couple of weeks before their Third Year ends just to keep the story moving at a decent pace. Fourth Year is looking like it's going to be pretty lengthy and so is Fifth Year so I'm just shortening up Third._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _You can't even hold a normal conversation_  
 _But you can tell your friends I ruined your life_  
 _Whatever helps your perfect reputation_  
 _'Cause I'm not losing sleep tonight_

 _I met a girl and she's more than a pretty face_  
 _Six drinks and she still remembers my name_  
 _Fine as hell but I think I might as well drop Annabelle_

 _Maybe she's pretty but I don't need a girl like Annabelle_

~ _Annabelle_ , A Rocket to the Moon

* * *

Dany was eating breakfast with James a few weeks after the last Hogsmeade trip when Sirius and Tasha came into the Great Hall. After the trip, they had become nauseatingly couple-y, complete with making out over breakfast. Sirius sat down next to James, who looked at Dany like he wanted to die. Dany was across from the happy couple and was going to have to try to stomach her food as they had a competition as to who could shove their tongue farther down the other's throat.

"Morning you two." Sirius said cheerily. Dany and James both waved because they were both mid-bite.

"Hey James." Tasha said, completely ignoring the other girl at the table; Dany ignored her too. It was an unsaid thing that had developed after the trip. Dany still didn't know why exactly the girl hated her. Sure enough, they both ate a couple of bites and the face sucking started. Dany wrinkled her nose at James. She wasn't grossed out because she liked Sirius, she wasn't grossed out because it was over breakfast, she honestly was uncomfortable because he was fourteen and, from what James had said, he was going to be handing in his V-card pretty soon, if he hadn't already. That seemed a little early to her but she never said anything, constantly reminding herself that it wasn't her job to keep him responsible. James moved his plate away from where they were, as if he was genuinely worried about spit landing in his food, and looked at Dany as if to ask if they could leave and just go to class.

"I can't…I told the girls I'd wait." She said quietly. She didn't know why she bothered to be quiet. There was no way Sirius or Tasha was paying attention to what she was saying. James groaned and put his head in his hand, resigning himself to this torture. A few minutes later Lily, Marlene, and Alice walked into the Great Hall and James seemed so relieved that Dany was worried he might cry. The three girls were going to sit down but with one look towards Sirius and Tasha merely picked up some toast, never bothering to sit.

"You guys want to go?" Lily asked and both Dany and James stood, grateful for the reason to leave. They both ducked under the table to get their books. And when Dany leaned down to pick up her bag, she noticed that Sirius' hand was _way_ too close to being up Tasha's skirt to be polite for a public location. She stuck her tongue out to herself and picked up her bag. James attempted to say bye to his friend but he didn't get an answer. He walked out next to Dany, who patted his shoulder.

"It's not forever, James…there's no way she's sticking around." She told her Godbrother consolingly. The other girls laughed.

"Damn straight it's not forever. We should take bets!" Lily cried and the other girls laughed and agreed.

"James, can you hold the money during the bet? I'm assuming you don't want to take part in this?" Dany said and James grinned.

"Please, we have our own betting pool." Remus said as he, Frank, and Peter appeared from around a corner. "I'm assuming we're talking about Tasha, am I right?" He added on. Everyone nodded. "Speaking of, we've been meaning to ask one of you to hold our money. Any takers?" Lily raised her hand.

"Yeah, I'll do it."

"Don't worry guys, I won't let her spend it on chocolate." Dany added on with a laugh as they all started to walk towards charms (otherwise known as the bane of Dany's existence).

"So, what are the bets, ladies?" Marlene said with a grin. They all thought for a minute.

"Wait how long have they already been dating?" Lily asked.

"Three weeks." Remus told her.

"I'll give it another month." Alice said.

"Five more weeks." Lily said.

"Three weeks." Marlene said.

"Less than a week." Dany said. James and Remus laughed.

"Well you can definitely tell who the romantics are in this lot. We've got Evans over at five more and then Little Miss One Week. Really, Dan? Well I hope you're right; that's about all I can take of their…couple behaviors." Frank said and Dany grinned.

"There's no way they'll make it through Valentine's Day." She said and everyone looked suddenly uncomfortable with their own bets; she had a point.

"Alright, what are the stakes?" James asked them, amused. Dany wondered where he had put his money. James was usually a pretty good gambler. The girls looked around at each other. Dany wasn't weighing in on this one. She could handle whatever the wager was.

"A galleon? Two?" Marlene suggested. There was a general agreement on two galleons and they all shuffled around their bags and handed the money to James. He grinned as they entered Flitwick's classroom.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you ladies." He said with a grin as he went to take his seat. Lily and Dany sat down next to each other and Dany prepared for her least favorite two hours of the week. Fortunately for Dany, her best friend was brilliant at everything so she always had a fail-proof tutor. Also fortunate was that no one had ever really mastered Cheering Charms and so they were just reviewing for the majority of the period. To her credit, Lily was an always-positive tutor. She never got frustrated with her best friend and she never seemed to have a problem ducking a charm that wasn't right.

"No, Dan you're saying it wrong again…put more emphasis on the 'a' this time…okay try again." Dany tried again and to her surprise she was successful. Lily squealed happily but still ducked it. She always said she hated the damn charms; they made her someone she wasn't. "Congrats!" She said and slapped her friend a high-five. Dany sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much, Lils. My love for you is never ending; I don't think I tell you that enough, honestly." Dany said as they put their wands down. Lily smiled and bumped her shoulder.

"Hey, that's a two-way street…Dany Masters I love you." She said, fake crying with a hand over her heart and Dany pretended to choke up too.

"I love you Lily!" She said dramatically and flung herself into her friend's arms. They both started giggling and James threw some parchment at the back of her head.

"Hey! No having that much fun, you two. And Danilynn, get your arms away from my woman!" He said and Lily jinxed him so quickly that he didn't have time to duck or repel it. His hair turned a violent color of purple with hot pink streaks. Remus, his partner, started to laugh at the look on James' face. Professor Flitwick looked over and sighed.

"Mr. Lupin, _how_ did you manage to turn Mr. Potter's hair this, erm these colors?" He asked of the young werewolf. Remus shrugged.

"Accident. Sorry, Professor." He said. The Professor turned James hair back to normal and Remus grinned at the two girls. James looked indignant at the injustice against him, and his hair, going unpunished. Dany grinned at him and waved cheerily from across class. He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her. She laughed and went back to talking to Lily.

"I heard you up last night." Lily said softly. Dany started at the statement then she sighed.

"Yeah…sorry I woke you up. I don't know why they're waking me up at like 2 in the morning now, it's really quite unfortunate." She said. Lily nodded. Dany knew how badly she was hiding the visions. And she knew how Lily worried for her best friend; not just because of the mental toll that her night visions were taking but because her sleep was being completely disrupted more than it should be. She wasn't kidding anyone either, Lily knew that once she was up, she didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

"What was it this time?" She asked. Dany looked at the floor, thinking about the right way to say it. There really wasn't one without sounding like a sappy teenager.

"Nothing horrible…just weird. I wouldn't have even thought that it was one except that I woke up and I had written the same thing about a thousand times in my book…there was only one image with it. A door with the number 4 on it. I spent all night staring at the bloody door." Dany said.

"What had you written?" Lily asked her. Dany looked at her distantly and responded, trying to hold off telling her friend.

"Alright, don't judge, I'm not in control of these bloody things. And I don't know anything more than I've told you so don't freak out and make the whole class look…"

"Dany. The sentence." Lily said, clearly not buying her friend's stalling.

"Fine, fine. I was saying it over and over. It…it was 'Hello, Harry. My name is Danilynn Black. I'm your Godmother'. That's it. That's all I know about it before you start twenty questions." Dany said. Lily's mouth dropped open. Dany watched her, waiting for her to do something typical of Lily and overreact to something that could be even remotely romantic.

"Seriously?" She whispered. Dany nodded.

"Seriously." Dany told her.

"So I think we need to break this down into three separate parts. The first one being the person you're talking to. Harry's your Godson obviously, but why are you meeting him so late that you have to introduce yourself? Second of all, is he my kid? I'd name you Godmother if I had a kid tomorrow; he might be my kid, I don't know. And third, and the most obvious one, is the name change." Lily said excitedly, but still being mindful of her volume.

"Well I don't know who Harry is, which is probably why he didn't present in the vision, just a door. I've been thinking that over and that's my best guess, unless you have another theory; which in that case, shoot." Lily had no better theory. "And he could be your kid, I have no idea. A last name would have been helpful but of course, nothing is ever straightforward around here. And third, I have no fucking clue. Don't forget there is more than one Black; granted I'd rather scratch my own eyes out with my fingernails than marry Regulus. And I could always be going under a fake last name for some reason."

"Or you're married to that one over there." Lily said, with a subtle nod towards the back of the room. "Honestly, the name has a nice ring to it. And it's super sweet to boot. Not only the childhood crush part but the whole caring for a wounded soul from a horrible past thing is just so romantic; it makes me go weak in the knees." Lily said and Dany recognized that look; her hopeless romantic heart was carrying Lily away.

"Lily, I think we all need to calm down. No matter what it was, it's years off, obviously I'm not planning on getting hitched anytime soon. And last time I checked you don't have a kid." Dany said, reminding her of the fact they currently were fourteen and not mothers and wives. Lily nodded and she was obviously trying to get herself under control.

"Alright, I hear you. But you have to admit it's a little sweet. You can't deny that you like the sound of that name." She said with a grin and Dany felt her face turn red.

"Maybe a little…shhh, I don't need the whole world to know." Dany said but she couldn't help but giggle with her friend.

"Hey I don't judge. But you have to promise me that when you get married I get to be your Maid-of-Honor." Lily said and Dany laughed.

"Hey, that's a two way street. I better be in your wedding Lily Evans." She said and Lily grinned.

"Of course, besides, you'd probably do a great job; your house is incredibly classy, after all." She said and Dany grinned.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal. I'll be yours, if you'll be mine." Dany said and Lily shook her hand.

"Deal." Just then, Professor Flitwick called the class to attention. Everyone stopped casting spells and looked up at the little man at the front of the class.

"Good work, everyone! Now, I won't be seeing you all until after Valentine's Day, so I'd like to wish you all a lovely holiday. See you next Wednesday." He said and everyone started packing up their books and wands. James drifted over to where Lily and Dany were walking out of the room.

"I reckon that you might be right, Masters. Take a look over there." He whispered and sure enough, Sirius was quite noticeably being wrung out by his girlfriend for something that they were all too far away to hear. Dany grinned.

"I told y'all. I'm taking this money home." She said. "Where'd you put your money James?" He grinned.

"Three more days. He's going to split with her on Valentine's I think. I have no way of knowing for sure, but that's where I put my galleons." He said and Lily looked appalled.

"You bet that he'd dump her on Valentine's Day? That's awful. Not that I'm complaining, I'll be damn glad when they stop slobbering over breakfast everyday." She said and James shrugged.

"That's life and that's definitely Sirius. And you and me both, Evans. I'm actually concerned that their bodily fluids are going to end up in my cereal one day." He said and both girls scrunched up their noses.

"That's disgusting James." Remus said from behind him and both Lily and Dany agreed.

"Disgusting? Yes. Legitimately a concern of mine? Also yes. It's the sad truth these days." He said solemnly and the other three laughed as they headed to Transfiguration, which they shared with Hufflepuff. Dany took a seat next to James, as Sirius was now opting to sit with his girlfriend. Remus was filling in for Dany as Lily's partner and the rest of their group was paired off evenly too. Professor McGonagall walked in the room and almost immediately started to teach. Dany exchanged a look with James; it was going to be a long class.

* * *

Lily was sitting two seats behind Dany and only one seat in front of Sirius and Tasha. She really wished that she could turn around and tell them both to shut it because their bickering was making it really hard to concentrate on what McGonagall was saying. Suddenly, she heard something that caught her attention.

"…She's my friend, of course I know her parents." Sirius was saying. Lily raised an eyebrow and then kicked Remus in the shin. He looked at her and she nodded towards them subtly. 'Listen' she mouthed to him and he nodded.

"That doesn't mean that you get to talk to her all the time. _I'm_ your girlfriend, not her." Tasha hissed. Lily and Remus exchanged a look. Who were they talking about? Lily dearly hoped it wasn't her; she pitied the poor girl that was accidentally caught in the middle of this.

"I was friends with them, all of them, long before I met you Tasha. I'm not going to drop them, _any of them_. You're acting ridiculous." He told her and Lily shook her head, mainly to herself. Don't tell girls they're being ridiculous. It just pisses them off even more. She noticed how pointedly he had said he wasn't dropping _any_ of them, he apparently knew what, or who, she was pissed about and wasn't saying it outright. Lily wished that he would, she was quite curious and a horrible snoop.

"I'm not acting ridiculous, I'm being realistic. You're dating me, you should at least consider saying hello to my parents on the platform when we go home for break." Tasha said. Lily had to give her that one; it was just courteous.

"Tasha, I'm not meeting your parents, I don't see the point of making small talk with someone I'll probably never see again." Lily felt her eyes widen. She made eye contact with Remus and he mouthed 'what the hell?' at her and she shrugged. They were accidentally overhearing a massive fight. They might be overhearing the undoing of the relationship as a whole.

"Excuse me? Are my parents not _important_ enough for you? Is that what this is? Are they not _powerful_ enough?" She hissed at him, clearly becoming more upset by the second. Lily got a nasty feeling about what she was talking about.

"What are you going on about?" He asked and Lily wanted to smack her head into the table. Boys.

"So you're more than happy to meet the Minister of Magic, but heaven forbid you meet some average Ministry worker and his shopkeeper wife. I guess that's not _exciting_ enough for you." She snapped and Lily raised her eyebrows. She was completely screwed in terms of this lesson but she was too busy listening to the train wreck behind her to really care. Remus put his head in his hands, closing his eyes. She saw him vaguely shake his head and Lily quite agreed with that assessment.

"That's enough, Natasha." Sirius snapped at his girlfriend. Lily was taken aback. No one called Tasha by her full name, even strangers called her Tasha, even teachers had adopted the name. That was a tone that she had never heard before; Sirius didn't particularly scare her, but then again he had never sounded like he wouldn't have minded smacking his hand into her face. Dany had told her about his temper, only having seen it once in her life before. Lily had the feeling that she was getting a taste of the calm before the storm.

"That's right, I forgot that she can _never_ do anything wrong. Silly me, I thought that you were supposed to agree with me for once." She said and Lily wished that the stupid girl would just stop talking. Her one consolation was that she was positive Sirius wouldn't reach over and hit his girlfriend, no matter how mad she made him; he simply didn't hit women. She remembered Dany telling her that once. There was a time where Sirius had scared Lily, it was a while back and before she had really known him as much more than the Black in Gryffindor. Dany had already been close to him and they had been talking about it when Dany had shrugged and had simply said, "He doesn't hit girls, it's just not in his nature." Lily believed it the more she got to know him.

"She has nothing to do with this and you know it. Just leave it alone." Sirius said and Lily thought that he sounded tired. It may have been his choice to date her, but she pitied that voice more than she expected to. Tasha was silent for a minute but she didn't stop completely.

"She has everything to do with this. You stare at her all the time, you _do_ know that, right? I'm your girlfriend and you're supposed to take my side because that's what couples do. It's like you don't even like me." She said and there was insecurity all over her voice towards the end.

"Tasha…I like you, I really do; but they're my friends. I respect your friends, so please respect mine. Think what you want about them, but keep it away from me." He said and Lily could tell that he was very done with this conversation.

"Why do you put her on a pedestal like this? It's ridiculous, honestly. What does she have that's so special? Do you just have a fetish for weird hair colors? Or is all the attention she gets a turn-on for you?" Tasha pushed and Lily wanted to bang her head into her desk. She just didn't stop.

"That's enough. I'm not asking, I'm telling you. Enough is enough. So help me if you bring this up again because I am so fucking sick of hearing it. Either accept that Dany's in my life and is going to be staying there or don't; I don't care but it's time you figure it out." Sirius snapped. It appeared Tasha had finally gone too far. Remus apparently took pity on everyone involved and finally turned around.

"Hey you two, as riveting as I'm sure your conversation is, save it for after class. Me and Lils are trying to learn up here." He whispered and Professor McGonagall caught him talking. Of course she had just missed the raging argument that had just been happening.

"Mr. Lupin, is there a reason that you and Mr. Black feel the need to converse during my lecture?" She asked critically. Remus shook his head.

"No, Professor. Sorry." He said and Professor McGonagall looked at him keenly and continued to teach, not giving him detention, something highly out of character for her. She must have figured that he had a good reason for it. The rest of class went by uninterrupted and the couple sitting behind Lily and Remus was silent. When class was dismissed, Lily and Remus packed up their things slowly, waiting for Sirius and Tasha to leave. Once they were gone Remus started the conversation.

"What the hell was that?" He said slowly and Lily shook her head.

"Well now I can comfortably call Tasha jealous and possessive, but other than that, I have no idea…she definitely was talking about Dany. He definitely wasn't happy about that." Lily said and Remus nodded. She was watching James and Dany talk in the front of the class about something that she couldn't catch. The last thing she wanted was Dany hearing that her friend's relationship was disintegrating because of her.

"Unhappy would be an understatement. He was pissed, I've heard that voice before, granted only a few times, and it never means anything good. There aren't many things that will push him like that. James has always claimed that Sirius has a hot temper but I've never seen it myself; I think we were on the cusp of seeing a full-on meltdown…the voice is usually accompanied by a fist to the face." Remus said and Lily shrugged.

"He doesn't hit girls. I don't think that it's in his nature." Lily said, repeating what Dany had told her long ago.

"I know but I think that if she had gotten any nastier, he might have made an exception…she just doesn't want him near other girls; which is dumb considering that she must have known that he and Dany are close." Remus said and Lily shook her head.

"Remus, as nice and as perceptive as you are, you're still a guy; she thought that he'd like her so much that he wouldn't _want_ to talk or be near any girl that wasn't her. She's one of _those_." Lily said, unable to help judging the other girl. Dany and James walked up to them and Dany caught the last sentence.

"Oh, who are we talking about?" She asked eagerly and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Tasha. They were having quite the dispute during class. She doesn't want him near anyone with boobs other than her." Lily said and Dany wrinkled her nose distastefully. Lily quite agreed with her.

"Oh, she's one of _those girls._ " Dany said. Remus and James looked at them and shook their heads.

"That's what I got busted for; I turned around to tell them to shut up." Remus said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Good thing she's on her way out...she won't be missed, I'll tell you that." She said and Lily raised an eyebrow. This morning she had thought that Dany's prediction of less than a week was severely low-balling it, but now she was starting to think that her best friend knew more than she let on about Sirius' dating life. The four started walking down to the Great Hall for lunch and finally James asked the obvious question.

"Why do you two keep saying that Norton is 'one of those girls' like that has some super secret meaning?" He asked and Dany laughed.

"It's not super secret at all, actually…care to explain Lils?" She said and Lily nodded.

"Sure, as we all enter our teenage years in earnest, you boys deserve to know anyways…some girls, generally ones that are pretty average and are thus insecure, become wildly possessive of their boyfriends. At the same time they try to ward off other girls they start becoming clingier and needier. This inevitably leads to them putting out in a last desperate attempt to keep their boyfriend, who is clearly repulsed at this point because she won't bloody leave him alone. So once they hookup, he dumps her because he no longer has motivation to stay with her because she's a whiny, clingy, jealous bitch." Lily said matter-of-factly. James and Remus both raised their eyebrows at her.

"Holy shit, Lily that's pretty brutal." Remus said and Lily shrugged.

"Nothing but the truth, boys. So yes, she's one of _those_." Lily said and Dany nodded in agreement as they walked into the Great Hall.

"Women are nuts." James said decisively and Lily couldn't help but agree. Women were absolutely crazy.

Lily woke up the next Tuesday and started her day off as always, waking up Alice, then Marlene, and finally going over to drag her best friend back to consciousness. Halfway through waking up Marlene she remembered that it was Valentine's Day. Everyone was waiting to see if James would be collecting on his bet today. They all hoped he would be because no one wanted to see the nauseating couple on the most vomit-inducing holiday of the year.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Al." She called out to the sleepy girl that had just walked into the bathroom. She received a grunt in return. She woke up Marlene relatively quickly and then went to rouse Dany. She apparently had slept soundly last night, with normal, non-prophetic, dreams because she didn't get up. "Dany. Dany come on. Get up. You've been waiting to see Sirius' relationship implode forever. Come on, today's the day." She said and pushed her out of bed. Dany hit the ground with a thump

"Owwww…Lily I don't like you right now." She groaned from the ground. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You love me, now seriously get—what's this?" She said suddenly and Dany stood up blearily.

"Lily Evans if you're going through that sketchbook I'm going to kill you." She said. But Lily wasn't looking _in_ the book; she was looking _on top_ of it. Dany followed her line of sight.

"Seriously Dan have you been picking flowers or something?" Lily said and Dany walked around the bed to her nightstand. On top of the book she drew her visions in was a flower.

"What are you talking…that wasn't there last night when I went to bed." She said slowly and Lily felt her stomach lurch.

"What do you mean 'it wasn't there last night'?" She asked.

"I mean this was not here when I turned off the lights last night." She said again. "Marlene! Alice! Can you come here for a second?" She called out and the girls walked over.

"Yeah?" Alice asked.

"Did either of you put that there?" Lily asked impatiently. Both girls shook their heads.

"If it wasn't you and it wasn't any of us…who was it?" Lily said slowly. Dany shrugged.

"No clue. If anyone has a theory, feel free to throw it out there." She said.

"Um, Dan you know flowers kind of have meanings right? I mean that's why roses and today are such a big deal; they mean love." Alice said. Marlene nodded.

"Yeah, maybe the meaning would give us a clue…that's kind of an unusual choice for Valentine's Day, seems personal. I mean it's a…well, what is it?" She asked suddenly. Dany picked it up in her hands. It had large white petals and no stem. She smiled at it softly.

"It's a magnolia. They're impossible to grow in these parts without magic…they smell wonderful though. It's beautiful." She said and Lily could tell she smelled the flower as her head bent slightly. Lily examined the flower that was the exact color of her friend's hair. She didn't really think that was an accident.

"How'd you know that?" Lily asked. Dany shrugged.

"We have a tree at home. My mom babies it like you wouldn't imagine. I think she loves the tree more than she loves me." She said.

"Maybe she sent it for you." Dany immediately shook her head.

"No way she'd cut anything off that tree and Dad wouldn't dare crossing her about it either. That's a good way to get your ass beaten nine ways to Sunday in my house." She said with a laugh. Lily checked the time; they were totally going to miss breakfast at this rate.

"Guys, we need to start getting ready. Dan, I'm going to put it in some water and then we need to go. Alice we can look up your flower meaning after classes today. What do we have? Herbology?" She said and everyone nodded and went back to their routines.

"You know what this means, right Dan?" Marlene suddenly said, as she was getting ready. Dany buttoned up her shirt and dryly answered.

"What Marlene?"

"Someone has a crush on you." She said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Well whoever they are, they know me so at least it's not completely random." She said. Lily's head snapped up.

"What makes you say that?"

"They're my favorite flowers." She said softly and Lily raised her eyebrows. That cut down the list of guys considerably. "That or James told someone and didn't bother to tell me because he didn't think it was important." Or not. James never had really realized that things that seemed strange, like random people asking him about his Godsister's favorite flower, were _actually_ strange. It could still be anybody.

"Well that was really helpful until you said that James knows." Marlene snorted and everyone else laughed in agreement. Lily found a glass and filled it with water. Dany put the flower in it before they left their room.

"Alright, no one tells the guys or brings it up; they have big mouths and seriously they'll never shut up." Dany said and they all nodded in agreement. Suddenly she started laughing. "Speaking of them, James is going to be on pins and needles all day, hoping that Sirius and Tasha's relationship bites it. Maybe it's already over and we don't have to watch them slobber all over each other at breakfast." She said hopefully. Alice laughed and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't get _too_ carried away, Dan. Getting your hopes up that much means that reality can only be a downgrade…I think I'm going to head to the Library real quick to look into that flower. No way I'm waiting until after class. I'll see you all in Herbology." She said solemnly and everyone laughed as Alice turned in another direction. They entered the Great Hall. The three girls sat down with Remus, James, Frank, and Peter. Sirius was nowhere to be found.

"Hey guys." Lily said and sat down next to Dany. "How's everyone's day so far?" She asked and James opened his mouth to say something but suddenly he yelped in pain and glared at his Godsister accusingly.

"You deserved it in advance. Now shut up James before Lily hexes you on this already grossly sweet day." She said briskly and he looked scandalized that he had been figured out so quickly.

"Aw, come on Dan, we all know how much you love Valentine's Day." He teased and she rolled her eyes.

"It's dumb. All it does is give couples a reason to stick their tongues in each other's mouths and gives singles a reason to feel bad about themselves." She retorted as she put some toast in her mouth.

"Amen, sister." Marlene said and Dany tipped her glass at her.

"Come on you two, you're awfully cynical. Don't your parents celebrate Valentine's Day?" Lily asked and Dany shook her head.

"No way, they both always said that if you need a day designated to saying 'I love you' then you're not acting like it the other 364 days of the year." She said with a shrug. Lily smiled.

"That's adorable. I love your parents so much, Dan." Lily said and Dany winked.

"Eh, I kind of like them too." She said and Lily laughed. James did too. If anyone here knew how much she loved her parents and how much they loved each other, it was James. They had grown up side-by-side and he had been firsthand witness to many of the things she often spoke about from home.

Suddenly, Tasha came into the Hall and they all looked at each other with dread-filled looks. Except she didn't come over, asking where her boyfriend was, instead she walked over to the Hufflepuff table and started speaking to girls that Lily supposed were her friends. Four of them got up and led her back out of the Hall. Everyone exchanged looks. Dany and James both held out their hands.

"Pay up." They said simultaneously. Damn, Lily thought, they're good.

* * *

Sirius was so glad that his relationship with Tasha was over that he wanted to cry. Now things could just go back to the way they were before she started getting into his business and straining his relationships with everyone other than her. Sure, he felt horrible about leaving her in tears but he hadn't even said anything before she started crying, so it wasn't _really_ his fault, he reasoned.

He walked into the Great Hall and saw all of his friends (minus Alice) exchanging money. He raised an eyebrow and walked over just as Dany and James were pocketing about five or six galleons each.

"Hey guys, I see we're paying Dany and James for…well why are we paying them exactly?" He asked and Lily rolled her eyes.

"We took bets on how long your relationship would last. Just to clarify, you and Norton _are_ over, right?" Lily said. Sirius nodded.

"Oh yeah, we're over." He said and James and Dany both cheered.

"I win Evans, five more weeks my white ass." Dany laughed and Lily stuck her tongue out at her in response.

"Five weeks, Lily? Really? I know you heard our argument in Transfiguration on Friday." Sirius said to her. He had realized that a little too late; he had literally been arguing about Dany within easy earshot of her best friend. Judging by the closed look on Lily's face and the blank one on Dany's he guessed that she hadn't told her best friend anything about it other than the fact that it happened.

"Yeah, unfortunately we took bets before then and no one would let me change my bet. It was unfortunate for me, really." She said with a shrug. The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully and Sirius found that he was really and truly happy to be able to talk to his friends without a girl hanging off of him, constantly demanding his attention. He did miss the snogging though. He watched Dany laugh at something Remus had just said and Lily was animatedly talking to Marlene as James, Frank, and Peter were discussing something farther down the table, too far away for him to hear. Suddenly Dany burst out laughing.

"Lily, your ponytail just smacked me in the face. Ugh I think I got some in my mouth." She said and crinkled up her nose. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh boo, sweetie, if I had a sickle for every time I found a white hair in my hairbrush I'd be swimming in them." The redhead retorted. Dany made a face at her.

"Speaking of my hair, I really need to get a haircut." Dany said, while examining the ends critically. That seemed like a screaming shame to Sirius to cut any of her hair off but he didn't say anything. "At least a few inches need to go for it to be healthy again. Nothing's cuter than ratty split ends." She said sarcastically and Lily laughed.

"Yeah, you could probably use a trim. On the other hand you could just shave your head and make the front page." Lily joked. Dany laughed and Sirius tried to imagine her bald. He couldn't really visualize it; he honestly was having a hard time visualizing her as a brunette, even though that's what he had known her as for over two years. James checked the clock and they all started standing up at an unspoken cue. Sirius realized he was no longer used to the rhythms that his friends were in; he had been too busy with Tasha, which made him feel kind of shitty. Dany caught his eye and smiled.

"Time for class." She said quietly and he smiled back appreciatively. They all started to walk out of the Great Hall and James fell into step with him almost immediately.

"Good to have you back, mate. Really, I love the guys but I can only take so much of Peter before I start to lose my mind." He said honestly and Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, it kind of got out of hand. Next girlfriend, I promise that friends come first. All of them." He said and nodded towards the girls. He noticed Alice had appeared and they were all talking happily.

"That'll go over great. 'Sorry baby, I really like you but these other four, very pretty, girls are more important than you'." He said, poorly imitating his friend.

"Eh, probably not Prewett and McKinnon but still. This was ridiculous. Like I don't even know what's been happening in any of your lives." He said, feeling more and more guilty for being so absorbed in himself.

"I think Dan and Lily will forgive you, man. Lily's got a good heart and you and Dan are close; besides, they both believe in second chances. And Dan believes in full-on redemption so you legitimately can't screw up _too_ badly until you threaten someone she cares about." James said.

"Oh well that's reassuring."

"What is it that Daniel always said about being nice? He only said it a million times when we were kids…hey Dan, what's the thing your dad says about being nice?" he called up to her and she fell back to talk to them.

"What? Why?" She asked and Sirius realized that this was the first time he had talked to her in over a week.

"Sirius is feeling guilty that he was too busy with Norton to talk to us." James said and Dany looked like she had swallowed something sour.

"I told you that she was one of _those_ girls, James. I'm always right." She said and Sirius decided that he didn't want to know what kind of girl she was talking about.

"You did, you did indeed. So I'll leave you two kids to catch up, seeing that someone is so guilt-ridden." James said with a wink at him before leaving to talk to Remus.

"So…Dany how have you been?" he said awkwardly.

"Alright I guess. Life's pretty uneventful at the moment. How about you?" She said and he could tell that the last month or so had put an obvious strain on their friendship.

"Bloody weird to be honest. Man, Tasha was nice but she was a possessive lunatic too." He said and she laughed.

"I could have told you that like a month ago." She said.

"What? Why didn't you?" He asked and she smiled.

"Because you liked her. I knew no matter what I said you wouldn't have listened so I didn't say anything. I let you find out all on your own, you lucky boy." She said and he groaned.

"Thanks for that, you could have saved me a lot of trouble." He said and she shook her head.

"You wouldn't have listened to me. I thought about telling you that she was most likely crazy the night after the Hogsmeade trip but I didn't. You said you liked her so I kept my mouth shut." She said.

"How'd you know? That'd she'd be a jealous lunatic I mean."

"She liked you way more than you liked her. Nothing that out of balance can survive, let alone do well. The writing was on the wall from the start…she was really boring. I tried talking to her at Hogsmeade and I wanted to kill myself she was so dreadful. It was like talking to a wall." She said thoughtfully and then her eyes widened. He could tell she didn't know how he would take that. He laughed.

"She was boring, wasn't she?" he laughed and she relaxed.

"Sorry, but yeah. Kind of an idiot too, honestly." She said and he could tell she was being truthful, at least from her perspective. He had to hand it to Dany; she called it like she saw it. There was no trick or game behind this conversation and he found that refreshing. They hadn't really seen each other much lately and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Tasha was trying to push her out; he had missed her, more than he thought he would have. They walked into Herbology and Sirius looked up to see Tasha standing next to her friends. "She's been crying." Dany said softly. Sirius looked at her.

"How do you know that?" He asked.

"Her eyes are bloodshot and see how all of her friends are putting her in the middle of their group? They're trying to keep other people away from her." She told him and sure enough, her eyes were red and all of her friends seemed to be like bodyguards, around her in all directions.

"Damn. Are all girls this predictable?" He asked and she laughed.

"We're not completely predictable, at least not all of us. But that's just female instinct; you protect the vulnerable one." She said with a shrug and Sirius noticed that one of the girls standing near Tasha gave him a nasty look.

"Well they all hate me. I think I'll go stand way over there." He said and started to walk away.

"Oh, Sirius!" She called out suddenly. He turned around. "What James was talking about earlier, about what my dad said about kindness; my father taught me to be nice first because you can always be mean later, but once you've been mean to someone they won't believe the nice anymore. So be nice, be nice until it's time to stop being nice, then destroy them." _(AN: I saw the thing about kindness online and liked it, I didn't come up with it but I don't know who did)_ She said before she turned away to start talking to her girlfriends. Sirius had the slightly uneasy feeling that that was the mentality that had kept the Masters clan on top for so many generations. They were kind, all of them, but he had no doubt that any of them could turn very nasty and would destroy someone without blinking an eye.

He stood next to James around the giant Herbology tables and Professor Sprout came in, all chipper and cheery as always. It must be a bubbly Hufflepuff thing, Sirius had always supposed.

"Well, hello all and a Happy Valentine's Day to you all!" She said and Sirius saw all of Tasha's friends glare at him. Awkward. "Now, we were supposed to be working with grown mandrakes today but I decided that we would be having a more enjoyable, and less lethal, lesson today. How do you all feel about flowers?" She asked.

Every girl in the room started talking to each other. Lily was saying something to Dany and Dany's face was turning progressively redder until she turned away from him completely and he could just see the back of her head. "Quiet ladies. Now, the epistemology of flowers and plants of all kinds is incredibly important to the art of Herbology. A good way to remember what exactly you're looking at, is remembering the symbolism behind them. Of course, roses mean love, but did you all know that the Egyptians referred to Mandrake root as "water of life" when mixed with water? Appropriate considering that it can be used to fix petrification, wouldn't you say?" She said and there was general agreement from the class. "Now, you're going to split into groups of four and to make things less uncomfortable, you can choose your own groups."

Immediately, girls grabbed onto each other. Dany, Lily, Marlene, and Alice had grabbed hands so fast Sirius wondered if they'd been holding hands the entire time. James, Sirius, Remus, and Frank all shrugged as Peter wandered over to a group of Hufflepuff guys that he was friends with. Professor Sprout started walking around and handed groups sheets of paper. She reached them after a few minutes.

"Fill out the meanings and put all four of your names on it. Please don't blow anything up boys." She finished handing out the papers and told the class, "The plants are over there and books are over there. I want this done before the end of class!" Everyone started shuffling around. Girls took to the task quickly, all looking at the flowers and saying which ones were their favorites.

"Women. They're all the same yet somehow all different." Sirius said to James, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, no joking. Like they all love flowers but they all love _different kinds_ of flowers. Like how would I know that Dany hates daisies unless she told me? And then my mom likes tulips and I can never keep those two straight, add in Rhea, who likes…hydrangeas I think and I'm shocked that I can ever get those three anything in terms of flowers because I'm constantly mixing them up. Not to mention my Godsister picked the hardest bloody flower to find in Europe, let alone England. And apparently roses are overrated or something because no one likes those." James grumbled and Sirius laughed.

"I hope you realize that I don't know what any of that is except daisies and maybe tulips." He said. James shrugged.

"Well we're about to find out. Wait, Remus is going the work, bless him. Alright, let's go tease the girls." James said with a laugh and they walked over to where the four girls were standing. Lily was holding out a rose for Dany to smell.

"I don't smell anything Lils, I don't know what you're talking about." Dany was saying. "Besides, roses are so boring. Oh wow, roses on Valentine's Day, how original." She said sarcastically. James chuckled.

"You know, not everyone only loves fragrant flowers that are impossible to find on this continent, Dan." James said.

"Oh shut up James. No one asked you. And besides, who _wouldn't_ like a flower that can smell like a thousand different things, depending on the tree? Now, I'm assuming that Remus is doing your work for you?" She said with a raised eyebrow. Neither boy answered her and she smirked. "I thought so. So you boys can just stand there while we look at the pretty flowers." She said and turned her attention back to what Lily was doing.

" _This_ is poisonous?" Alice asked, shocked. She was holding up a clump of white flowers in her hand. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, says here that it's poisonous to dogs…moral of today is keep Fido away from the gardenias." The redhead said. Dany took it from her and cupped it in her hands.

"It's so beautiful though, it's hard to believe that it's dangerous at all." She said. Sirius idly watched her inspect it and smile for a second before handing it back to Alice. "So, that's what? Grace and elegance?" She said and Lily confirmed before she wrote it down, her white hair falling onto the parchment. James kicked him and pointedly raised an eyebrow at him. He stopped watching Dany, busted by her Godbrother.

"Alright, magnolias are next." Marlene said in a very controlled voice. She found the flower and brought it over. The four girls passed it around and Sirius saw Dany truly smile.

"Anyone know what this one is?" Lily asked.

"Nobility. Nobility and perseverance." Dany said suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "What? I like them, don't judge. They smell good." She said, mildly defensive. The girls all shrugged but Sirius caught the little smile on Lily's face as she was writing; Lily Evans knew more than she was saying.

* * *

James was personally thought that Sirius' relationship with Tasha had imploded because of how he was looking at his best girl friend. Dany was leaned on a desk, occasionally smelling a flower that Lily would hand to her, and writing down the girls' answers to the work. It was really quite a mundane position but Sirius was staring at her like she might be the most interesting thing in the world right now, let alone in the room. That was something that wouldn't have gone by unnoticed by his, now ex, girlfriend. When Dany had smiled at the magnolia flower, James had caught Sirius smile slightly too; he was starting to mimic her emotions and expressions. She had him wrapped around her finger and she didn't even know it. James guessed that she wouldn't even imagine it in her wildest dreams.

Lily looked beautiful today, almost as if the universe wanted to taunt him. It was the most romantic day of the year and he wasn't able to ask her out. Dany had stepped on his foot so hard at breakfast that it had brought tears to his eyes to prevent him from doing so. He knew she wouldn't say yes but he still felt like he should. She was beautiful, the most beautiful of all four of the girls in his opinion.

He knew that he, Sirius, Remus, and Frank all differed on that (and he honestly didn't know where Peter stood) particular topic and each of them favored a different one of the girls so they never really spoke about it because it usually led to disagreements and awkwardness on such a variety of levels that no one ever wanted to experience it again. Where James saw Lily's red hair, Sirius wanted Dany's snow-white locks, Remus wanted Marlene's blonde ponytail, and Frank saw Alice's brunette bob. Occasionally James would talk to Sirius about Lily, but he knew that Sirius would never really talk to him about Dany purely because he was her Godbrother and it made him uncomfortable to talk to about the girl he liked to someone that had grown up with her to such an extent that they had been forced into the same bathtub as kids.

Dany and Lily were now talking, apparently done with their work and Dany was saying something that Lily seemed to find hilarious. She looked so beautiful when she laughed. Her face lit up and her nose crinkled, making her dimples and freckles stand out. Sirius kicked him.

"Dude, you're staring." He whispered and James removed his eyes from Lily but glared at his friend.

"Like you're not? Sirius Black don't pretend like you're not looking her up and down right now." James hissed and Sirius looked very guilty for a second but it passed quickly.

"Oh yeah, because this is a great place to scope out girls. The Herbology greenhouse really brings the heat. Besides, objectively she hasn't really…grown into herself yet." He said, mildly awkwardly and James rolled his eyes, despite thinking that his friend was right; none of them had made it through the strange phase of looking like puberty was _almost_ happening.

"Don't you give me that, you're looking at her like she's going to solve the great mysteries of the world. She isn't going to solve global poverty from inside Greenhouse Two, you know. It's disgusting to watch, honestly." James said, with no real insult. Sirius rolled his eyes back at his best friend.

"At least I'm not undressing her with my eyes, unlike someone else I know. Lily's a sweet girl, stop imagining her naked." Sirius laughed quietly and James whacked him over the head.

"Yeah some of us have to imagine girls naked because we haven't seen the real deal, Black." James said, a little too loudly. They had caught the girls' attention.

"Ack, please save the talk about Sirius' sex life for another time." Dany said and Sirius looked rather embarrassed. "I'm never going to be able to look at you the same way again if you go into any more detail." She said and looked at Sirius as if she was trying to push it out of her head. James shifted uncomfortably and the rest of the girls looked like a mix of amusement and discomfort.

"Sorry, I wasn't the one that brought it up, if you must know. _James_." Sirius said pointedly and James scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Sorry to scar you for life, Dan. I didn't realize that things like sex scare you." He said with a smirk; he was trying to get her to incriminate herself.

"Oh shut up. I'm not _scared_ but I also don't need to sit around with graphic descriptions of Sirius stuck in my head. No offense." She added on at the end, towards Sirius.

"None taken." Sirius said dryly, as he watched them bicker back and forth.

"Oh please Masters, we all know you're scared of boys." James retorted and Dany rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I might as well be because I'm definitely not looking for a relationship, James. Not all of us have found the love of our lives at twelve. Oh but that's right, you had that phase where you wanted to marry your family owl so this thing with Lily might not _actually_ be forever; only until another domesticated bird catches your eye. My mom's owl is currently single, if you're in the market." She said sweetly and everyone snorted. James felt his face go red.

"I was like four."

"You were eight, James Potter don't you lie. I remember this well. You asked me to be in the wedding." She laughed and he felt his face go even redder.

"You're joking." Sirius asked and she shook her head.

"I almost wish I was. But then again, if this was a joke it wouldn't be nearly as funny." She said and everyone laughed at his crimson face.

After Valentine's Day, the year seemed to fly. And by the time that Spring Break rolled around, Sirius had managed to date, sleep with, and break-up with Jemma Hall, Ravenclaw. James had won the bet on that one too, victoriously claiming his galleons from the new, combined betting pool of all four girls and James, Remus, Peter, and Frank. Everyone was becoming very wary of betting against him. When they returned from break, Sirius had already managed to get _another_ "girlfriend", as they were all calling them now, named Angeline McGill, another Ravenclaw. Shockingly, everyone actually liked her; she seemed to be a nice girl with no psychotic tendencies. Unfortunately that relationship didn't last past the first week of exams due to the fact that she suffered a nervous breakdown over her exams. This time Lily cleaned up the betting pool, claiming that a Ravenclaw couldn't balance school and a relationship during exams. There ended the list of Sirius' sane girlfriends.

Kenzie Levitt was pretty, very much so, but she also seemed pretty unstable, if anyone were to ask James. She was a year older in Gryffindor and was all long legs and short skirts. Sirius asked her out not three days after his relationship with Angeline ended. Weirdly enough, as soon as they started dating the girl's heels disappeared and her hair become lighter and her makeup became less intense. One day, about two weeks before the end of school, Sirius even mentioned it to James, as they were getting ready for the day.

"Does Kenzie seem…different to you? I mean appearance wise." He said and James shrugged.

"I guess…her hair's definitely more blonde, if that's possible. She was pretty blonde as it was. Why do you ask?" James said keenly. Lily had been badgering him for months about why Sirius was running through girls like it was going out of style all of a sudden; James hadn't been able to come up with a plausible reason outside of Sirius really liking sex. Lily, Marlene, and Alice were about to go mad because Sirius and Dany were in the same place that they were in January: good friends with a girlfriend in the middle of them.

"No reason. Just checking that it wasn't my imagination." He said absently as he pulled on a shirt. It was a Saturday and they had plans just to sit around the lake all day and do nothing except maybe think of a good way to harass McGonagall one last time before the year ended. Remus, Frank, and Peter had detention all day because Sprout had caught them trying to sneak out with some of her plants the week before (everyone had been shocked that Sirius and James hadn't been involved at all) so they had planned to meet up with the girls, although he suspected that Alice and Marlene would bail at some point to avoid the risk of Sirius' girlfriend making an appearance.

"No, it's definitely not your imagination." James said and they walked out of their room and down the stairs. They had barely made it two steps away from the stairs when Kenzie popped out of nowhere. James jumped he was so surprised. Unlike when he had first dated Tasha, Sirius was no longer shy about the fact that he was dating and unabashedly kissed her in front of about thirty people, including the very amused Dany and Lily that were leaning on the couch by the fire. James saw Lily whisper something to Dany and his Godsister stuck her tongue out, wrinkling her nose in what seemed like disgust. He walked over to them and they both smiled. James' relationship with Lily was definitely under cordial, but still not friendly.

"Hey guys." He said and they both waved.

"You enjoying your first row seat to the daily show?" Lily said with an eye roll. James shuttered. He thanked his lucky stars that Sirius refused to bring girls back to their room, no matter how much they always whined about it. Apparently hooking up was more fun in someone else's bed.

"Oh yeah, nothing like watching my best friend suck face. Really you'd think he'd have a problem with chapped lips or something at this rate." He said thoughtfully and Dany laughed.

"I thought I was your best friend James." She said and he laughed and put an arm around her.

"You're my sister, there's a difference. Besides, I wouldn't put up with watching you do _that_ all the time; it would corrupt the innocent image of you in my brain. You're still like seven, in my world." He said and she smiled.

"Well I'm the tallest seven-year-old in the world." She said. Lily watched them, mildly amused.

"So are we going to go or wait for them to, um, finish? Marles and Al couldn't come, said they had something to do." Lily said. James and Dany both looked over at Sirius and Kenzie.

"Yeah I'll go tell him we're leaving…wish me luck." James said and walked towards the still-entangled couple. "Uh, Sirius? We're going to go…we'll be by the lake if you want to come down when you're…done." He said and suddenly Sirius turned away from Kenzie who looked rather disappointed.

"Oh, yeah I'll come down now, no worries. I'll see you later?" He said to his girlfriend who looked rather annoyed.

"Who are you going with?" She asked.

"Well, James for one, and then the girls…or did that change?" he said, asking James.

"Marles and Alice bailed. It's just Lily and Dan." He said and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah that's fine. So, I'll see you later." He said and kissed his girlfriend one more time before walking off with James. James looked back and she looked _pissed_. Sirius wasn't getting any tonight judging from the look on her face. They walked back up to the girls and they both burst out in applause.

"Ah, he survives. Tell me Sirius, how can you go so long without breathing?" Dany asked seriously and he didn't seem that amused.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I'll have you know that she's a great snog." He said and she wrinkled her nose for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning.

"That's great, I'm really glad to hear it. Really. I hope she's great in bed too." She said dryly. Lily snorted and James chuckled as all four of them left the common room for the lake.

"Yeah…she really is." He said absently and she hit him in the shoulder.

"I wasn't being serious, you dolt. I don't really care if she's a good shag or not; all I care about is that we have to sit around all the time watching her stick her tongue down your throat. We have to try to eat with that around, you know." Dany said with an eye roll and he had the grace to at least look mildly embarrassed.

"Sorry…I hear I'm pretty good though, you should realize that it's an art form. I take it very seriously. You all should take notes on technique for when you start dating." He said and she laughed.

"That's great to know. I'll keep the fact that people say you're a great snog in mind for when I never need to know that." She said and Lily intervened.

"Can we please change the subject from Sirius' sex life? Please. I know you're good-natured about it Dan, but some of us don't have the stomach." Lily said.

"Thank you for finally saying it, Evans. Thank you so much." James said gratefully. This was becoming too much for even him to handle. He was actually surprised that he was boing so forthcoming with a girl, let alone one that he claims to like. He was also surprised that she seemed so unsurprised by the whole conversation; it suddenly struck James that this might not be the first time that she had heard this spiel. James had to applaud his Godsister: she could handle herself and she could handle Sirius' unabashed bluntness. Sirius shrugged.

"Your loss." He said as they sat down under a tree by the lake.

"It's really not, man. This is a little too much for me and I'm a hormonal teenage boy. Talking about sex in front of girls is just awkward." James said and Lily and Dany looked like they quite agreed on that, even though Dany had been able to play along for a while. Conversation slid into how they all thought exams had been and slowly but surely, the day started to slip away in the lull of easy conversation.


	9. Get Me Through the Night

_Disclaimer: not mine, JKR is queen_

 _Hey guys! So, i'm moving to university and there's going to be some major upheaval in my life and that's going to make updating pretty tricky for a while! Enjoy the chapters while you can!_

 _Oh, and this chapter is essentially all Dany and Sirius, and you'll pretty quickly see why I opted out of Lily and James this time._

 _Read and Review,_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

I got all I need when I got you and I  
I look around me, and see a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight  
You're getting me, getting me through the night  
Can't stop my heart when you shinin' in my eyes  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight  
You're getting me, getting me through the night

~ _Flashlight_ , Jessie J

* * *

Dany was having a wonderful day up until she heard a shrill voice from behind where she was leaned against the beech tree. Kenzie had finally lost her patience with her boyfriend talking to people that weren't her. Normally, they were all pretty good at ignoring the two-week "girlfriends" but this one really got under her skin; she didn't know why. Maybe it was the voice, maybe it was the attitude, or maybe it was the definitive amount of crazy that Kenzie Levitt possessed in her short body. No matter what it was, she was positive that it wasn't just her that saw it; Lily had agreed with her on every count and Marlene and Alice had refused to hang out with them today purely out of fear of having to see Kenzie, which said enough on its own. As a matter of fact, she was pretty sure that the only one that _didn't_ see it was Sirius; all he saw was her short skirt and lipstick, she thought dryly.

Kenzie sat down on top of her boyfriend's lap and Lily glanced at Dany as if to ask if she was seeing this right. Dany shrugged at her as their conversation came to an immediate halt at her appearance.

"Dan, did I tell you about the time Petunia accidentally called Vernon 'sugar lips' in front of my parents?" Lily said suddenly. Dany snorted completely ungracefully, unable to stop herself. Everyone looked at her.

"You've got to be kidding me. That's disgusting. Never repeat that if I have a full stomach or bladder Lillian. I will either retch or pee and I can never tell which." She laughed. "You've got to tell me more about the world's biggest hot mess. Ah, I've missed hearing this. Break was at a good time, I need my fix of the Vernon/Petunia love story."

"Alright, so we had him over for dinner, gross right? But anyways we were all eating dinner, mom made double of everything because of his uh, weight, and they were talking about how serious their relationship was or whatever and instead of saying that _Vernon_ had his own apartment, she said _Sugar Lips_ had his own apartment. Mom accidentally snorted her wine out her nose and I think my dad broke a rib trying not to laugh, honestly." Lily laughed and Dany started laughing so hard that she started to tear up and soon James started to laugh hysterically too. Sirius chuckled and Kenzie looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"I need to stay at your house more, Lils. Really, all I get at home is my brother hosing me down with water every morning to wake me up. Then I chase him through the house trying to get him back and then Mom yells at me for drenching the furniture that 'has been in this family for generations and is worth more than most people's houses' and then Dad laughs and usually splashes Rae from behind when he's too busy watching Mom yell at me." Dany said and Lily laughed.

"Sounds like your family; honestly you all are some goofy people to be running the Wizarding World." Sirius said and James nodded in agreement.

"We like to have fun. When the world is looking to you for leadership, you have to bring your own levity to the situation." She said with a shrug. It was true; not many people these days came into the Minister's house with good news or a funny story, not like before the war. All that walked through their door was death and sadness recently.

"So does your family do, like, arranged marriages or something to make sure you're married to someone 'worthy' of the name?" Kenzie said and Dany had to fight incredibly hard not to roll her eyes and slap the other girl. It wasn't a completely stupid question because some of the older families _did_ arrange to keep the blood pure, like Sirius' did, but she heard the undeniably bitchy tone towards the end. She decided to answer the question as if she had missed the tone of it.

"Oh no way. We marry who and when we want; no one tells us who to marry. Well sometimes a parent tries to intervene but always ends up with the parent being ignored. My family marries for love, not duty." Dany said and Kenzie, for some reason, looked rather put out by that information. Dany glanced at Lily who seemed just as confused as to why she seemed to not like that.

"Oh…that's lovely." She said tightly and Lily suddenly stood up.

"Hey Dan, we should probably head in. You said you had to write your folks today, right?" Lily said and Dany nodded, playing along.

"Yeah…I should probably go do that before it gets much later. We'll see you all later." She said and the two girls walked off, leaving poor James alone with the couple; Dany felt rather bad about that but there wasn't really much she could do for him. She just was glad that Lily had come up with something to get them out. They were inside the castle walking in a comfortable silence when Lily interrupted it.

"This one hates you too." She said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"What gave it away?" She said dryly. "Besides, that's a two way street. She's not exactly my favorite either. And I still think she's bat-shit crazy."

"Oh, she's totally nuts. I just hope that when they split, it's clean. I have a feeling she could come back and be real vengeful. She's stalker material." Lily said and Dany nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…we have to deal with those girls enough as it is. I liked Angie, I was sad about that one actually. She'll be missed." Dany responded and Lily nodded sadly.

"She'll be missed. She also didn't say 'like' every other word so that was a bonus." Lily laughed and Dany chuckled.

"It's really horrible isn't it? I want you to hit me if I ever start doing that. Hit me hard, Lily Evans." Dany said seriously.

"It's sad that she's so bad that we have to make promises to hit each other if we ever start acting like her." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"It really is—oh shit." She said suddenly and felt her stomach drop to her feet. Lily turned around to see what Dany had seen.

"Oh shit." Lily echoed. It was Kenzie, and from the look on her face, she had heard them. She was with Sirius and James so she didn't have free reign to start screaming or pulling their hair; she knew that if she did her relationship would be over very, _very_ quickly. It was widely known by girls that Sirius wouldn't take any shit where his friends were concerned.

The most unnerving part of Kenzie hearing her conversation with Lily was that nothing happened. The rest of the school year passed, granted it was only about a week and a half, and nothing happened. No hair-loss potion in the shampoo, no fights, and no bitchy comments or rumors. Nothing happened and that was almost worse. _Almost_ being the key word in that sentence. And nothing continued to happen on the Hogwarts Express. Dany, Lily, Alice, Marlene, James, Frank, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and (unfortunately) Kenzie were squeezed into a compartment and while it was quite cramped, no one really seemed to mind except for Kenzie. She didn't look very happy at having to be pressed up to people she didn't particularly like for five hours. Lily said she had overheard Sirius and her talking before they had boarded and he had apparently plainly said that he was sitting with his friends and she could come if she wanted. She had apparently wanted to because here she was, sitting between Sirius and Marlene looking like she wanted to die.

Dany was directly across from Sirius and was half-sitting on Lily because of the lack of space. She idly watched her talk to him and he would respond with little to no enthusiasm. Typical of his relationships. She thought it was strange that she seemed so clingy to someone a year younger than her but dismissed it. He was a cute kid, she probably didn't care that he was younger, she thought.

"So are we taking bets on whether or not the Petunia/Vernon love saga will reach the pinnacle of love this year? Do you think he's going to pop the question?" Dany asked Lily and she grinned.

"Maybe. I think we should bet. Guys! How do you all feel about a bet on whether Vernon's gonna propose?" She asked the compartment at large and everyone agreed, Kenzie said nothing.

"Alright, what does everyone think?" James said. "Remus?"

"Yep."

"Peter?"

"No way."

"Frank?"

"Eh, what the hell? Sure."

"Sirius?"

"Yeah he seems like the marriage type." Kenzie didn't look impressed with that answer or the fact that her boyfriend looked incredibly grossed out by the thought of marriage. That threw a red flag for Dany, who thought it was awfully early to care about marriage.

"Marlene?"

"Nah, who would marry Petunia? No offense Lily." Lily shook her head; she didn't seem to be offended. The rest of the group laughed.

"Dany?"

"Hell yes. And Lillian I expect to be your plus one to the nuptials. Sorry that your brother-in-law is going to be a boring, blubbery, bland buffoon."

"I appreciate the alliteration, Dan." Lily said and Dany grinned. James ignored them.

"Lily?"

"I hope not. But it _does_ seem to be the 'polite' and 'respectable' thing to do, so I say yes."

"Alice?"

"No, I hope that she'll take a leaf out of her sister's book, pull her head out of her ass, and realize she doesn't need a man."

"What about you James?" Dany asked and he shrugged.

"Of course he's going to propose if she's anything like her sister." He said, clearly not thinking that through. Everyone stared. "That wasn't supposed to come out of my mouth. Sorry Lily." He said quickly, realizing that he had said that out loud. Lily ducked her head and Dany saw her blush due to how close the two girls were sitting.

"Aw, it's so cute!" Dany yelled loudly and everyone laughed. "Don't ever change, James." She said. A couple hours passed with conversation and James almost lost his eyebrows at least three times during an Exploding Snap championship with Sirius and Remus. The girls passed this time watching and painting each other's fingernails crazy colors. About a half hour outside of London, the argument started. Kenzie wanted Sirius to meet her parents and Sirius didn't want to. Everyone else in the compartment severely wished that there was space under their seats to crawl into.

"I'm just saying that if you're going to date me, you should at least know my parents."

"Kenzie, I don't really make that good of an impression on parents…I don't know if that's a good idea." He argued and she seemed incensed.

"Bullshit! I'd be willing to bet that everyone's parents in this room like you. Seriously, do any of you have parents that don't like him?" Alice, Marlene, and Lily raised their hands.

"Our parents don't know him, so please disregard this part of the compartment." Lily said and then Kenzie's eyes moved to Dany.

"What about you, Masters? Your family like him?" Dany's eyes widened. She did _not_ want to be in the middle of this. She looked at both of them and then shook her head slowly.

"My mom and brother don't." She said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He said and she nodded. He sounded mildly hurt but still unsurprised. Rhaegar didn't make it a big secret that he didn't like the Black heir's friendship with his baby sister.

"Yeah, they don't really like that we're friends…I think it's because of your parents, I'm not sure. My dad thinks you're great though." She added on at the end.

"Oh, hey Daniel's coming in with the save." He said and Dany nodded and Kenzie threw her hands up.

"Will you stop talking to her for a bloody second?" She snapped at her boyfriend. "I know she's riveting but seriously we're having a serious, legitimate discussion; so pay attention to what I'm saying." Sirius looked taken aback. People had been telling him since he started dating her that she had to potential to be crazy and he had ignored them all thus far; Dany thought that he had been wrong to do so because she truly looked deranged.

"You have to understand that my family doesn't give me a lot of time for meeting people on the platform. I usually say hey to James' folks then split because that's all I have time for before they take me home." He said and the distaste for the word 'home' was written all over his voice. Dany felt for him; she couldn't imagine hating the place you had to leave Hogwarts for every summer. Kenzie looked apprehensive but couldn't find anywhere to argue with that logic. Suddenly the train started to slow and they looked up to see the platform quickly approaching. They all tried to stand up and collect their things, which proved to be a task in and of itself in the tight compartment. Once everyone's things were off the overhead rack, they opened the compartment door. Sirius practically ran off of the train after quickly saying goodbye to all of them; Tasha tried to start a snogging session and he had to wave her off. The guys slapped him on the back and he hugged the girls. "Write me," he whispered in Dany's ear and she nodded quickly before he let her go and vanished into the crowd.

"That was…strange." James said once Kenzie had walked off to find her own parents. "He usually doesn't run off like that. Maybe he wants to keep us away from his folks or something." the rest of the group shrugged; they had long ago given up on trying to discern Sirius' reasoning behind the things he did regarding his family. "Anyways, I see my parents. See you all later." He said and then Dany saw her brother.

"I see Rae, I gotta go. See you all over summer sometime." She said and they all waved as she walked towards her brother.

* * *

Sirius had run as soon as he had felt the train stop. They couldn't see him near them. If his parents saw him near Dany, they'd freak out. They wouldn't just freak out, they'd try to get their hands on her. Never mind that abducting the Minister's daughter, who was beloved by most people in Wizarding England, was probably punishable by life in Azkaban or the Dementors' Kiss; the only thing that matters was tormenting their son as much as possible. It was just extra motivation to leave as soon as possible that Kenzie wanted him to meet her parents. He was going to miss them; summers were always the hardest. He could usually convince his parents to give him a week at the Potter's place but that was a hard won battle every year. He suspected that they allowed it because they were sick of him being in the house all of the time, a constant reminder of the stain he was on their family name or something.

"Sirius. I see you've bothered to be on time for once." His father said and his mother stared for a moment before speaking.

"I see you've survived. Who on Earth fixed that…problem you had?" She said, clearly referring to the gaping chest wound he'd had last time he'd seen them (he had spent Spring Break at James' without their knowledge).

"It healed on its own. I'm rather hard to kill. Besides, you two aren't getting rid of me that easily." He said cheerily, making a point of omitting that Dany had healed it on the train, just as Regulus appeared from saying farewell to his own friends. The attention immediately shifted to the younger, better, son and Sirius was off the hook for now.

They Apparated home and almost immediately Sirius was tossed into his room. Thankfully his owl was there so at least he could communicate with the outside world. His room looked the exact same as it had the day he had left for Hogwarts after New Years. There were old shirts that no longer fit covered with blood everywhere. He vaguely remembered trying to stop the bleeding with them. The bathroom connected to his room was a mess as well, a first-aid kit that James had gotten him as a (kind of) joke for Christmas one year was open on the counter and bandages were strewn all over the floor. God he had been hurt; he probably would have died if his friends hadn't called him on being injured. He cleared off the bloody remnants of his emergency (shitty) self-first aid and sat down on his bed, rubbing where the scars were that had caused all of this. It was going to be a long ass summer.

Letters were the only solace from the complete solitary confinement he was in. The first one came a week into break.

 _Sirius,_

 _It's been a week home and I hope you're okay. James said he hasn't heard anything from you but he's too proud to actually bother to write first, so here I am writing first. "I'm too manly to act concerned._ Of course _I'm actually concerned but it demeans my masculinity to write first. If he writes and needs help, I'll do everything I can," he says. Bleeding idiot my Godbrother is, I tell you. Things are okay here, Rae is just as stuck up as always and I think it might actually be getting worse (if that's possible). If Dumbledore names him Head Boy, he'll be absolutely insufferable. I'm moving in with Lily when that happens (if it happens, which I'm hoping it doesn't with everything I have)._

 _Speaking of Lily, can you believe what James said on the train? Lily's face was so red; you should have seen it! It clashed with her hair horribly, honestly. I think that they're the real deal. I can't wait to be making a speech at their wedding. I'm sure I'll be a great Maid-of-Honor._

 _Anyways, write back and if anything goes_ too _sideways, let me know. Help is never far away. Stay safe._

 _Love,_

 _Dany_

James,

Dan wrote me and I'm going to be the lesser man and write you first. Here I am, and I'm alive so we can all breathe a little easier. I'm just stuck in my room 24/7 which kind of sucks ass but it's definitely been worse before so I'm not complaining too badly. I have to be honest though, I'm getting kind of sick of seeing my own face; it's the only one I see anymore. Even Kreacher would be a welcome interruption…actually I take that back. I hate that bloody elf.

Anyways, I hope that all's well with your folks and I'm sure your parents are sick with how much they miss me (we all know that I'm their favorite) but tell them that it's okay because I'm still kicking and it's going to take more than my parents to take me out.

Tell your parents to take care.

Sirius

 _Sirius,_

 _I know I normally don't write you during summer but after Winter Break we're all a little worried and I couldn't help myself. Anyways, how's your summer been so far? James is becoming more and more insufferable as time passes. I know Dany theorized that he's gay for you and after spending the weekend at hers and seeing how he whined about you not being there, I believe her. I think you made Potter jump teams, so congratulations on that (and I'd like to personally thank you for diverting his attentions from me)._

 _I know we're not as close as you and James or you and Dany but if you ever need a hand up or someone to talk to, I'm always here. I can't mend wounds or anything but I hear that I'm a good listener. We all worry and no one likes seeing you leave the platform with your parents. Please remember that no matter how much it feels like you're alone and no one cares, we're all waiting across England and Scotland hoping that you're okay. And don't kid yourself, if Dany or James could find a reason to knock the door down to your parents' house, drag them out by their hair into the street, and beat them bloody, they would. Keep in touch._

 _Lots of Love,_

 _Lily_

Dany,

I know it took me a little while to write back but everything's pretty good here, nothing too horrible. And nothing that would make you throw a quill, if you get my meaning. I'm so bored that I'm actually considering doing my work for school. McGonagall would be so proud of me. Except I think I'm just going to read a two-year-old edition of the Daily Prophet, you know before everything was completely depressing and the world hadn't gone to shit. I really need to subscribe or something because I have no idea what's going on in the world.

I'm really hoping that Dumbledore doesn't name Rhaegar Head Boy purely because our days of sneaking out are absolutely over if he does; he knows you so well that we'll be getting busted 100% of the time, even with the cloak. Maybe your dad will convince Dumbledore to not make him Head Boy. One can hope, I suppose. And Lily and James are destined to happen. You need to keep me up to date (relatively) on what stupidity James is doing over the summer because he won't tell me anything incriminating about himself.

I hope you and your parents are safe and healthy.

Sirius

 _Sirius,_

 _It's good to hear from you man! Everything here is good and my parents admitted that they like you more (which is kind of depressing actually). And I'm sorry about the solitary, man. That's brutal but hey, at least you're in your room and not somewhere else. I mean I've never seen your room but I'm assuming that it's better than a dungeon or something. You said you were sick of your own face so I sent some pictures along in the envelope. Go ahead and keep them, there are duplicates everywhere in this house. Speaking of that, do you think you could convince your parents to let you off your leash for a week in July? The 21_ _st_ _to the 28_ _th_ _, I'm thinking. And if you really want, you can invite Kenzie. You just have to promise not to have sex in my house because that will scar me, my parents, and our house elf from now until forever. I don't know if you get the news, but the war's getting worse, like a lot worse. None of us like having you in that place, so close to those bastard Death Eaters, but there's nothing we can do right now. Write me back with your answer about visiting._

 _Hang in there,_

 _James_

Sirius looked in the envelope and, sure enough, there was a small stack of pictures. He pulled them out and started flipping through them. There were a lot of pictures of James and Dany; he supposed that he had taken these over summer because there were only one or two of everyone else. There was one of Dany lying on her stomach in the grass outside reading, only to look up to smile and wave at the camera and another of her in a bikini lying on her back, eyes closed. She apparently didn't know that a picture of her had been taken; in the background part of her gorgeous house was visible. There were a few of James' parents and there was one that someone had clearly taken in secret of James dancing around his room in his boxers and some socks. He guessed that it had been Dany or Charlie that had taken it. James apparently had decided that he would willingly embarrass himself for a good laugh. It worked because Sirius started laughing in the empty room; it made him feel a little insane. Now he had to ask his parents about leaving the house in a week. He tried to open the door and when it didn't budge, he knocked. He felt nuts, knocking on his locked bedroom door, from the inside. Kreacher appeared.

"What?"

"I need to talk to one of my parents; either one, it doesn't matter." He told the elf and to his surprise, Kreacher nodded and vanished with a pop. Minutes later, his father opened the door to his room.

"What do you want Sirius?" He asked. Sirius was rather glad that Kreacher had gotten his father. He was much more even-tempered than his mother.

"Um, James wrote me and he wanted to know if—"

"You want to visit the Potters. When and for how long?" He father asked, clearly bored.

"From the 21st to the 28th this month. So I'd be there for a week." Sirius responded.

"I'll have to speak to your mother on this. She won't like it but it does keep suspicion away from the family." He said. "You'll have your answer in a few hours." His father said and left the room. Sirius nodded and another owl came to the window. He opened the window and realized it was Dany's owl. There was no envelope just a folded up piece of paper, which automatically smelled of trouble.

 _Someone tried to kill Dad. He's in St. Mungo's and I'm leaving now with Mom and Rae. He hasn't woken up since it happened. If you have a chance (and I know it's almost impossible because of your family so I don't even know why I'm asking) I really could use you with me right now._

He barely recognized her handwriting it was so shaky. He flipped over the paper and wrote back.

 _James wants me over this coming Monday, the 21_ _st_ _, so I'll be out of the house. I'll come as soon as I can. Hang in there for a few days Dan._

He gave it back to the owl, which flew off immediately. He watched it go and tried to wrap his head around the fact that right now, the Minister was in the hospital, possibly dying. The same man he had sat next to at New Years and the same man that had said that he was sure they'd meet again soon. He was comatose.

Orion Black picked then to open the door again with his answer.

"You can go. But we're watching you Floo there, you hear? No tricks." He said and Sirius nodded. Once his father left he wrote James.

 _James,_

 _They said I could come over but I kind of have something to do instead. Would it be cool if I Flooed to your place and then Flooed again somewhere else? I don't need them knowing where I'm going._

 _Sirius_

A day later his response came. It was one sentence long.

 _I'll get rid of Kenzie for you._

The day he was supposed to leave came so incredibly slow that he thought that he was going to lose his mind at around 2 in the morning the day he was Flooing to the Potter's. He waited until a fairly respectable time, 8 in the morning, until he knocked on his door again. Kreacher appeared and pointed him down the hall. Sirius grabbed his bag of clothes and slung it over his shoulder and followed the house elf down to the kitchen, where his parents were standing.

"They want you there at 8 in the morning?" His mother asked skeptically.

"I only get a week; might as well make it count." He said with a shrug. She seemed to not really care and gestured towards the fireplace. They watched him as if they were waiting for something that wasn't James' house come out of his mouth. True to his word, he Flooed to the Potter residence. He was spit out in their living room and wrote them a quick note: _Thanks for letting me use your Floo_ , and then climbed back in and Flooed to St. Mungo's. He appeared in the lobby and there were several rather intimidating Aurors sitting about; he recognized the look on their faces, they were on the job. He'd been in St. Mungo's before and they definitely hadn't been there the first time. One of them was Alastor Moody. He walked over and carefully spoke to him.

"You're Alastor Moody?" He asked the man.

"I am. Who's asking?"

"You're Rhaegar's Godfather." He said, not answering his question; the Auror wouldn't probably be very responsive when he heard his name. A woman walked over to them; she seemed to be in her forties, clearly younger than Moody, who he supposed was her partner. She was looking at him critically and vaguely reminded Sirius of Dorea Potter.

"How do you know that, boy?" Moody asked, not so kindly.

"I know his sister. I'm a friend of Dany's. She asked me to come." he said, still trying to avoid his name.

"Well does her friend have a name?" He asked and Sirius winced. Damn.

"Sirius Black." He said and Moody's eyebrows rose.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? I'm not going to let a Black in to see the Minister of Magic _or_ his daughter." He snapped. Suddenly, the woman next to him stepped in.

"You said Sirius Black?" She asked and he nodded. "It's fine, Alastor. James has talked about him; they're friends. I'm sure that she wants to see him."

"Florence…" Sirius recognized her name too. He vaguely thought that she was Rhaegar's Godmother.

"I don't want to hear this crap right now Alastor Moody, Daniel's my friend too so don't pretend he isn't. I want to protect him and his family as much as you do, but if anyone could use a friend right now, it's his daughter. That poor girl's father is barely alive; don't you deny her the right to have someone who cares about her with her." Florence snapped at him.

"We'll let her decide that…go get her." Moody said gruffly. Sirius discerned that his main concern was Daniel and not his daughter. She was protected enough in here but the Minister had to be hidden from everyone that wasn't definitively a friend of the family's. A few minutes passed and Moody continued to stand there and stare at him like he wanted to disembowel him. Finally, his gaze moved to behind Sirius.

"Sirius?" He heard a soft voice say; he shouldn't have been able to hear that from across the relatively noisy waiting room, but he could pick that voice out of a crowd of 300 if he had to. He turned around and saw Dany. She looked like she'd run the gauntlet. She continued to walk towards him and Moody.

"Danilynn, this boy—"

"Enough Alastor, I know who he is." She said bluntly, harshly even, and the closer she got, the worse she looked. Dirty hair, bloodshot eyes, dark marks under her eyes, he suspected that she hadn't changed clothes since she got here either. She looked like she had gained about 10 years and lost about 10 pounds. Moody fell silent. So fast he almost missed it happening, she flung herself into his arms with a single, dry sob, his bag of clothes dropping to the ground. He hugged her back and she started to cling onto him so hard he could feel her nails digging into his back. It kind of hurt.

"It's okay, Dan…alright why don't we take this somewhere…less public?" he said gently and she let go and nodded, realizing that everyone in the lobby was staring.

"Yeah, come on." She said and he quickly picked up his stuff before letting her lead him through security the likes of which he'd never seen before. They left Moody standing where Sirius had met him. They were in the elevator when he asked the question he'd been putting off thinking about for days.

"What happened?"

"I—I don't know much. No one will tell me any details so I've had to listen through doors and do a lot of guesswork, all I know for sure is that whoever it was went the Muggle route. They must have been going for poetic irony or something."

"They _shot_ him?" he asked, disbelievingly. She nodded.

"Yeah, thankfully Purebloods are horrible shots so they missed, barely. I overheard the Healer say that another inch to the left and the bullet would have hit his heart. He has a collapsed lung as it is. Not to mention the cracked head from falling backwards from the impact." She said and she leaned into his shoulder.

"That's awful. How's he doing? I know you said he was still out in your letter but…" She shook her head.

"He still hasn't woken up. Mom's been here on and off and Rae has been trying to keep everything in line at the Ministry because Mom's gone too much to actually do her job. He's only seventeen; he shouldn't be doing that. But it might be permanent." She said and started to truly sob into his shirt. He was shocked; she had teared up a little on the train but it was nothing like this. This was the sound of pure agony. He had no idea what to do so he just stood there until the elevator came to a stop. She let go of him and tried to get herself under control as she continued to walk down the hall until she reached a door. She pushed it open to reveal a hospital room of proportions he had never seen before. Rhea Masters was sitting in a chair next to her husband's head and Rhaegar wasn't there. Sirius remembered what Dany had said about him trying to manage the Ministry. Rhea looked up.

"Danilynn Charlotte, what are you thinking—?"

"Shut up, Mother. Just shut up." The younger woman snapped and her mother fell silent.

"I'm really sorry that your family has had this happen to it, Lady Rhea. You don't deserve this, any of it." He said quietly. It was a sign of respect; even though the family insisted on first names only, the people ignored this and put titles in front of their names. Rhea waved a hand.

"Thank you, Sirius. You might as well stay; maybe my daughter will be less insufferable with you here." She said tiredly. Dany sat down on a couch opposite her mother, on the other side of her father's hospital bed. Sirius sat down next to her and she leaned on him. Rhea cleared her throat.

"I think I'll go and try to find some tea, maybe it will help me sleep…" She trailed off and Sirius saw her look at her husband like she was afraid that something was going to happen in the brief time she was away.

"I can go to find something if you want to stay with him." Sirius said suddenly, not sure where that had come from. She smiled a little and he was instantly very glad he had offered. "Thank you." She said softly and for the first time since meeting her, Sirius saw a bit of her daughter in Rhea Masters.

* * *

Dany couldn't tell if Sirius getting her mother coffee was an attempt to placate her mother or was a genuine gesture. She suspected it was genuine but she wasn't really sure. Her people skills were kind of shit right now. Because her dad might be dying. He was in a hospital bed with a gaping hole in his chest and a collapsed left lung and a cracked head. He might be dying. She had been here for nine long days. The first time she had left the room was when Florence had come in to get her because Sirius was here. She hadn't asked him how he had pulled off getting here; she had a feeling that she didn't want to know.

She knew she looked like hell, but it had been really obvious on Sirius' face when she had walked into the lobby to get him. Because of its white color, her hair had to be washed everyday or it became dingy and gross. It had been nine days since she'd changed clothes, showered, washed her hair, brushed her teeth, been home, or slept in her own bed; she barely slept or ate as it was. And she felt the strain staying here was putting on her body but she couldn't leave, not without thinking that something was going to happen to her dad in the time she was gone.

"Out of all of your friends, why him?" Her mother asked, disrupting her thoughts.

"I don't know…I guess he was the only one that really made sense. The girls would sit around feeling bad for me and throwing me a 'poor Dany, her life's so hard' party, which is something that I don't want. James would be beside himself and not much use to anyone really and I'm not that close to any of the other guys." She said with a shrug. Her mother looked at her.

"You don't want pity, you want comfort." She said to her daughter. "You want someone to tell you that it'll be alright. You want to be able to believe in the person just enough to take it on faith." Dany nodded.

"I do."

"I can't give you that."

"You're a horrible liar. And you're my mother, you're required to tell me that everything's okay so I don't think that it counts." Dany said hollowly and her mother nodded in agreement.

"We'll be seeing Sirius Black's true colors; nothing really brings it out of you like an extended hospital stay." Her mother said and Dany found it rather disturbing that she knew that. Sirius walked back in and handed her mother a cup of coffee and he did the same for Dany. She smiled a little.

"Thanks." She said as he sat down next to her. She felt kind of bad because she was pretty sure she smelled to some extent. To his credit, he was taking this all pretty well; sitting in a hospital room with her family was probably kind of strange for him. Dany took the time to scrutinize him. He didn't look bad, just kind of tired and slightly worn out. He definitely looked healthier than he had last time he had shown up from an extended stay with his parents. Her mother drank her coffee. Dany sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. She didn't like coffee to begin with and the fact it was hospital coffee added an extra level of gross onto the drink. But she needed it to stay awake so she drank it. "How's James?" She asked him quietly.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since school got out. You've probably seen him more recently than I have." He said and she raised her eyebrows. She could have sworn that James had said he was going to be at the Potter's sometime this summer.

"I thought you were staying there for a while this summer." She said and he shrugged.

"I was supposed to this week but then this girl I know wrote me to say that her dad was in the hospital and she wanted me to come stay with her. It kind of sounded a little more important than playing Quidditch with James and his dad for a week." He said and she felt kind of bad for trashing his break from his parents. "Why isn't he here, by the way? I would have thought that he would be beside himself." Sirius said and Dany bit her lip.

"He doesn't know. Actually no one knows outside of our family except Moody, Florence, my Dad's secretary, Dorea, Charlie, and you." She told him quietly. She didn't know how he was going to take that.

"What about the Aurors out in the lobby?"

"They don't know who they're protecting; Moody gave them orders and they're following them. No one knows because we're hiding the fact that he's injured. Dorea and Charlie have been sneaking Rae in and out of the Ministry and he's been doing as little as possible to get by from inside Dad's office. No one knows it's him except Dad's secretary. She executes everything for him. Mom goes in when she can, if someone needs to make a public appearance." Dany said. Sirius looked at her, mildly impressed.

"Damn, that's some back-up plan. The public will never know, will they?" Dany shook her head.

"They have to think that we're strong, that we're unbreakable. It's the only way to keep morale up. They can't know that the leader of their side of the war is currently…like this." Her mother said suddenly, gesturing to her husband. Dany saw how miserable she looked; Dany couldn't imagine being in that kind of pain. He was her father, but her mother had been the one to fall in love with him and now the man she had spent her life with, built a family with and fathered her children was lying in a bed and no one was sure that he was going to ever wake up. Sirius nodded.

"I understand. It's horrible that it's come to this level of secrecy; this is just tragic. Out of everyone I know your family deserves this the least. _My_ parents deserve this." He said and Dany was pretty sure he hadn't meant to say the last part out loud. Thankfully, he had said it quietly although Dany was pretty sure her mother had heard anyways. She always said that Mom ears were like bat ears; they heard everything. Her mother regarded him quietly and Dany could see that she was slowly changing her opinion on him.

"I should probably go for a bit, just to make sure Rhaegar hasn't burned down generations of work in the Ministry overnight. Will you be okay on your own for a bit, Dan?" She asked and Dany nodded.

"I'm not alone, Mom." She reminded her softly and her mother nodded.

"I'll be back soon." She said and left the room. Sirius looked at her sadly.

"How are you?" He asked. It was the first time in all nine days that someone had bothered to ask how she was doing and not her father. She felt her eyes start to well up.

"How honest of an answer do you want? And you should know that I'm essentially tears on legs at this point." She said. He smiled a little.

"As honest as you want to be. And noted. By the way, is there a reason that you're sitting as far away as possible from me?" He asked and she looked down and saw that she was squished into one side of the couch.

"Oh, yeah I'm pretty sure I smell and don't really want to subject you to that. It's okay with my mom because she subjects me to rabbit food when I'm home. That and she birthed me. But you haven't done anything wrong so I'm over here." She said and felt her cheeks warm up a little.

"I don't really care if you smell, Dan, which you don't because you already tackled me downstairs. But seriously, how are you holding up?" He asked and she scooted towards him, now that the fact she didn't smell horrible was established.

"I'm awful. I'm scared and tired and all I do is sit here hoping he'll wake up except he never does." She was really starting to cry now. "Why doesn't he wake up?" She heard herself ask through hiccupping sobs. "I don't care if he's Minister; that's what they're all worried about, you know. What if the Minister dies? What will we do? I don't care about that. I don't care at all. I just want my Daddy back." She whispered through her tears. "Is that too much to ask? I just want him back." She stopped talking but put her head down into her hands and continued to cry. She didn't even bother to be embarrassed. She felt him put a hand on her back and it occurred to her for the first time that he had probably never seen anyone really cry. His parents wouldn't have and guys certainly didn't cry like this. He probably didn't know how to make it stop. Not like she blamed him. _She_ didn't know how to make it stop, let alone him.

"Okay, come here." He said and pulled her towards him. She willingly sat on his lap and continued to cry straight onto his shirt. And the tears just kept coming; she didn't know where all the water was coming from. She would have thought that she would have run out at some point, but apparently not because she couldn't stop the tears.

"Why didn't I _see_ this? Why do I keep seeing useless _shit_ and not this? I should have seen _this_ instead of some damn door." She heard herself say and she realized just how true that was; she was mad that the universe had been showing her the number four over and over and not her father's attempted assassination. She could have warned him. They sat like that for a while, until Dany stopped crying because her body just couldn't come up with the water to keep the waterworks coming. She realized how she was sitting for the first time. She was in his lap, her head pressed into his shoulder, and his hands were on her back, rubbing up and down in an attempt to calm her down.

"Dan?" He asked softly from above her.

"Yeah?" She said quietly and her voice broke from the strain that had just been on her body from the sobbing.

"When was the last time you slept?" He asked.

"Too long." She whispered into his shoulder, still not moving. She felt one of his hands leave her back for a second before returning.

"Why don't you try to sleep? You'll probably feel better when you wake up." He said. She looked up at him.

"What if—?"

"If he even breathes too loud, I'll wake you up, okay? Try and get some rest. You're not doing anyone any good running yourself into the ground." He said gently and she nodded.

"Hey Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay here? I'm tired of feeling so alone." She said quietly.

"Yeah, you can stay. Just move off me for a second so I can get the circulation to my legs going again. When I sat down originally I wasn't planning on having you on me." He said and she moved off of him so he could stand. She realized that his shirt had taken a noticeable hit where she had been crying and she felt her cheeks heat up again.

"Sorry about the shirt." She said, somewhat embarrassed. He looked down.

"What? Oh, don't worry about it. It's just water, it'll dry." He said and then sat down again, this time looking like he was thinking about how he was going to place his limbs. "Alright, I'm good. Come here." He said and she sat back down where she had been. "Now get some sleep. I'll get you up if he stirs or wakes up but I'm going to let you sleep if your mom comes back, alright?" She nodded and a few minutes later, she finally fell asleep for the first time in far too long.

Dany opened her eyes and realized that she had been sleeping sitting up. The next thing she noticed was that it was getting dark out and her mother had come back and was restlessly sleeping in the same chair she had been in. Then she noticed that she was still sitting on top of Sirius, who appeared not to have moved since she had fallen asleep, and she had a blanket on top of her. She moved a little and he looked down at her from where he was reading a book, which he was holding at a weird angle to avoid her head. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders.

"What time is it?" She asked as she yawned.

"Almost seven." He said as he put the book down. "How do you feel? That doesn't look terribly comfortable to me but I'm not sleep deprived." He said and she slowly moved her joints. Sure enough, they were sore and when she tried to stand up her back and stomach hurt, probably from the crying, she thought. She brought the blanket with her, keeping it wrapped around her to keep the chill of the hospital at bay; she wondered who had gotten it for her.

"Yeah, my back and neck aren't really thanking me right now, but oh well I guess…when did she get back?" Dany whispered as she sat down next to Sirius.

"About two or three hours after you fell asleep. You were out a good nine hours. You should have seen her face when she walked in and you were passed out on my lap. It was a mix of shock and relief probably because you were sleeping, and she didn't look too thrilled but that's probably because she doesn't like me." He whispered back.

"I think that might change after this…what did she say?"

"She asked if my legs hurt yet. When I said yes she asked if I was going to wake you up or move you. When I said no she laughed and said that men were all the same. No clue what she meant by that, just by the way. Oh and she handed me this book for something to do." He said and gestured to the book.

"Wow, you got her to laugh? Sirius Black you are a person of rare talent. No one can do that except Dad; maybe me or Rae if we're particularly hilarious that day." She said with a small laugh of her own. She was taken aback for a second; that was the first time she had laughed since her mom had burst into her room and told her that they were all leaving for St. Mungo's _now_. She smiled a little and decided that she had made the very correct choice of writing Sirius instead of Lily.

* * *

Sirius had been in the hospital with Dany and her mom for five days when Rhea started pushing Dany to go home for a night to take a shower, eat real food, and sleep somewhere that wasn't Sirius' lap (which was where she slept now).

"Danilynn, I just really think that you should consider going home for a night. This isn't healthy for you to be here all the time like you have been." Rhea was telling her daughter. Sirius agreed with her privately but said nothing; this wasn't his family and it wasn't his place to add his opinion.

"I'm _fine_. Besides, what if he wakes up and I'm not here?" Dany argued and Sirius also thought that was a good point.

"Your father wouldn't like that you're doing this to yourself; he would tell you to take care of yourself before worrying about him." Rhea said and Sirius thought that she made an airtight argument. That's exactly what Daniel Masters would say if he were in any condition to be talking at the moment. "Look, it's five now; why don't you go home just for the rest of the day and tonight? Come back tomorrow morning. Besides, the Healers don't think he's going to be waking up within the next two days. He'll still be here when you come back." Her mother said persuasively. She made a good case. "Take Sirius with you; he looks like he could use a shower and a good night's sleep in a bed, without you sitting on him." Dany looked at him and he tried to look impassive. He was pretty sure he failed because he wanted to cry at the thought of a shower.

"I don't know…" Dany said.

"You've been here for two weeks straight, Dan. Give yourself a break." Her mom said and Dany finally relented.

"Alright, we'll go. But if anything happens, send someone to get me. I'm not joking Mother." She said and Rhea looked relieved. Sirius was worried about his friend too. She looked thin, too thin, and stretched; she looked so much older than fourteen, almost fifteen. Her hair was verging on grey it was so dirty and she had yet to change clothes, not to mention that she muttered in her sleep every night. She was going to kill herself through neglect if she didn't pull herself together. He was pretty sure he had never seen someone become so undone.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Honey. Take good care of my daughter, Sirius." Rhea said and Sirius nodded.

"I won't let her do anything stupid, well stupider than usual." He said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Cute. Really, that's so flattering; this must be how you get all of those girlfriends." She said and he shook his head.

"Nah, I can be charming if I want." He said and she didn't look convinced.

"I'll go get Alastor, he'll apparate you both home." Rhea said and left the room to go find the Auror, who Sirius hadn't seen since he had walked into the hospital originally.

"I'm sorry I'm keeping you here. You should be at James' place having fun." She said softly. "I didn't mean to dump my problems on your doorstep." He wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into his shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry about it; I chose to come here and I chose to stay. Besides, I think your mom is starting to like me." He said and she laughed.

"She better like you after this or I'll have her head for being ungrateful. Too bad Rae isn't here; you'd probably convince him…maybe." She said with a smile. And Sirius smiled back, just as Rhea returned with Alastor Moody.

Sirius saw his eyes go to the hospital bed. Sirius had forgotten that he was Daniel's firstborn's Godfather; seeing the Auror look at the man in the bed, he didn't doubt that they were friends, verging on family. He felt a pang of sympathy for the man. He walked towards the bed and stared at his face.

"Bloody idiot. I always told him to be more careful; and now he's laid up because I couldn't do my job. I am so sorry, both of you." He said suddenly to Dany and Rhea. Both of them shook their heads.

"It's not your fault, Alastor. There was nothing you could have done for him that you didn't do." Rhea told him softly and put a hand on his arm.

"I was always the one that was supposed to be hurt. It was my job to protect him. I should have stepped in front of him; that should have been me. It was _always_ supposed to be me to go first." He said and Rhea slapped him across the face, hard. He didn't do anything in response and Dany and Sirius were both too shocked to react. No wonder he had been so pissed when Sirius had tried to convince him to let him back to see Dany; he wasn't just protecting his charge he was protecting family.

"Don't you ever say that Alastor Moody. Our family has lost enough as it is so don't you _dare_ put that thought in my head. Not now, not ever. If you do, so help me I'll put the fear of God into you." She snapped and Sirius saw what Dany had meant when she had said that her mother was the only one who could put her dad in his place when they were kids. The woman was as fierce as her daughter.

"Mom!" Dany yelled. "What the hell?" She said.

"No, she's right Danilynn. Now's not the time. I'm sorry Rhea. You don't need to hear that." He said and Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"It's fine. Just…take them home. Please." She said and waved a hand. She was tired and they all saw it. He nodded and grabbed both of their hands.

"Hold on." He said gruffly and they Apparated with a crack. They appeared on the front step of Dany's house. He recognized it from the New Years party. He had never seen the inside of the house when it wasn't redecorated for the party. He had never actually seen where Dany lived. "I need to get back to the hospital. Dan, I'm sorry about what I said…you don't need to hear things like that right now." Moody said. Dany shrugged.

"No, it's fine, really. Besides, Mom just backhanded you and that's punishment enough. Thank you for not trying to hide everything from me like everyone else is." She said softly and hugged the older man quickly. He hugged her back before letting her go to shake Sirius' hand.

"You take care of her Sirius Black, you hear me? You protect her." Sirius nodded.

"I'm right here you know." She said dryly. She was ignored and Moody Apparated away again, leaving them standing there in silence.

"This place is beautiful." He said softly, looking around. There were trees around the edges of the clearing the house was in and it was bright and airy.

"Thanks, I was really fortunate to grow up here. Come on, let's get inside." She said and opened the front door. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside and the house was just as light and elegant as the family that had lived in it for as long as anyone could remember. There were windows everywhere and hardwood floors ran through the house and there was a lofted ceiling. The entrance was flooded with natural light, and in the room adjacent to the entryway, Sirius saw a piano. He felt dirty in the clean, bright home. Even Dany looked dingy and out of place in her own home, in her current state.

"Nice house, Dan." He said and she smiled.

"Thanks. So the basement, my parents' room, and my dad's study are all off-limits but other than that, the place is yours." She said with a gesture around.

"Do you play piano?" He asked suddenly. She glanced at him, surprised. She started to walk towards the piano and sat on the bench, looking at the papers on the stand.

"Yeah, a little. My dad taught me when I was a little kid. He's the real musician in the house though. He writes, plays, he can even kind of sing; I mean his voice is slightly better than average but I remember thinking that it was the best sound in the world when I was like five." She said with a smile. He smiled absently, thinking about a little girl with white hair sitting next to her dad on the piano bench listening to him sing.

"What _is_ all of this?" He asked gesturing to the papers. Her face suddenly turned red.

"Oh, um they're songs. Most of them are my dad's." She said. She looked like she was going to say something else but stopped herself.

"Most of them?" He asked and she looked like she was on the verge of telling him to mind his own business.

"Um, yeah some are mine too…" She said awkwardly. He raised an eyebrow; he hadn't had her pegged as a songwriter.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. And I don't really tell anybody that so don't repeat it." She added on quickly. "Like no one knows; that's something I've managed to keep James from knowing since I was practically born." She said and he nodded.

"Alright, alright I won't tell anyone. Promise…what could all of those be about? Not to be nosy, but I'm being nosy." He said and she smiled a little.

"I'm not really sure…everything I guess? I never really do anything with any of it; I can't sing. At least I don't think I can. Rae says I can but I think he's just trying to get me to embarrass myself publicly." She said with a laugh, absently fingering the piano keys as if she was playing.

"You can't be that bad." He said and she laughed.

"That's what you think…I'm going to go shower. You can find something to do or just chill in my room; I don't really care which." She said.

"Your house kind of scares me so I think I'll just sit in your room and not touch anything." He said and she laughed as she started to walk up the stairs.

"Anything you break we can fix…and you think _my_ house is scary? What about yours? Somehow I can't imagine it being warm and homey." She said and he shrugged.

"It's not at all…it's dark and kind of cramped. It's a townhouse sort of."

"In London?" She asked, apparently making the connection. He nodded.

"Yeah, in London. Living in the city isn't all its talked up to be, believe me. If it is, I wouldn't know because I'm not really allowed to leave the house." He said as she paused at a door.

"So you have to promise that you won't go looking for my underwear." She said with a grin.

"You have my word. No searching for bras and panties allowed." He said and she opened the door. Her room was lovely. It was large, large enough to accommodate her queen bed, desk and chair, dresser, closet, and a piano. Everything was white, except for the black piano. She had managed to fit a baby grand piano into her room comfortably. "You only play 'a little'?" He said and she smiled.

"Alright maybe more than a little. I'm going to go shower so look around, sit down, do whatever. Just no panties." She said and vanished into a room he assumed was her bathroom. After a second he heard the water start running and he looked around. This room was seriously massive. It could absolutely make a large sitting room. He looked at the strings of pictures that were strung up with clothespins.

There were a lot of her and Lily laughing in places he didn't recognize; he assumed it was either the Evans residence or a different part of Dany's house. He also saw a few pictures of her and James from when they were little kids, probably about eight or so. James looked the same, just shorter, and Dany had a head full of white ringlets instead of the long waves she had now. There were several pictures of her and her father at different stages of her life; Daniel with his little girl on his shoulders, then a picture of them at the platform, Dany clearly being sent off for her First Year at Hogwarts, and then a picture of them dancing near the piano in their pajamas. It was adorable. He saw his face in a few of the pictures too, which mildly surprised him. He remembered taking the pictures but had never really made the connection that she'd have them. His eyes left the pictures and drifted over to the glass doors that led out to a balcony. He glanced at the bathroom door, where water was still audibly running and opened the doors to the balcony curiously. The view was beautiful from her second floor room. It was so perfect that he could literally hear the birds chirping.

"Sirius? Could you do me a favor and just stare out the window for like five minutes? I forgot to bring clothes in with me." He heard her say and he did his best to not think about the fact that she was naked in the adjacent room.

"Sure, no problem. I'm out on your balcony." He said and he heard the door open and he tried really hard to concentrate on the nice, wholesome, wildlife and not on the fact that she was like five feet away, dripping wet, and completely naked. There were sounds of movement behind him and he had to fight the urge to turn around and get a look.

"One more second…sorry about this, I didn't really think that through…" She said and he nodded and made a noncommittal sound so he could guarantee that he didn't say something completely sexual. "Alright, I'm decent." She said and he turned around and she was clothed. She was in a tank top and sweatpants and her hair was up in a bun on top of her head but despite the baggy pants and the obvious age of the shirt, she looked the healthiest she had since Sirius had walked into St. Mungo's five days earlier. She looked about a thousand times better than she had but she was still much skinnier than she had been when summer had started. "I didn't realize that this was such a provocative outfit." She smirked and he realized that he had blatantly staring at her.

"Oh no, I was just deciding if you looked emaciated; I can't decide if you've effectively starved yourself or not." He said and she looked mildly self-conscious.

"Eating hasn't really been on my list of priorities lately. I didn't realize that I'd lost so much." She said. "You can go ahead and use the shower if you want. Feel free to use the shampoo." She waved a hand towards the bathroom. "Just don't forget to bring your clothes with you." She said wryly and tossed him the bag he had brought with him from his house the day he had left. He caught it and laughed before walking into the bathroom.

It was big enough to accommodate the needs of a teenage girl and it was obvious that the countertop got a lot of use, judging by the amount of cosmetics on it. Sirius inspected the wall-to-wall mirror above the counter and realized that she had written on it in what looked like red lipstick and it appeared that it had been there for a while. It said _you are beautiful_ in loopy cursive. Sirius thought that over as he pulled off his nasty clothes and started to run the water. He couldn't tell if she had put it there as a self-affirmation thing or not. He stepped under the hot water and wanted to cry it felt so good. Then he realized that it was all of Dany's stuff in here. There were bottles and sponges and a comb and a razor splayed about. He looked at the bottles in search of shampoo. Shaving cream? No. Conditioner? Not that either. Finally he found the shampoo and smelled it experimentally; it smelled good he thought to himself. His mind slipped back to the mirror. Was it there to keep her self-esteem up? He couldn't really see her having to remind herself that she was beautiful. It was on the damn mirror, she could see for herself and didn't need a reminder if she was looking at her own face. Did he just call her beautiful? He couldn't remember ever identifying a girl as beautiful in his life. Girls were pretty, they were hot, they were cute, and they were sexy, but he had yet to come across one that he could comfortably call beautiful. He had yet to think that any one of his girlfriends had something that was more than skin-deep. But he had undeniably just called her beautiful. Sirius got out of the shower and found his clothes and quickly got dressed. He shoved his dirty clothes in the bag and walked back out into Dany's room.

She was sitting at the piano; quietly playing around with the notes, occasionally scribbling something on the paper she had on the stand. She looked up when he opened the door and put her quill down.

"Hey. You look like you feel better." She said with a smile. He nodded.

"Yeah, I forgot how much I missed showering. I saw the graffiti on the mirror…what's up with that?" he asked and she looked embarrassed.

"You saw that? Oh, I just keep it there to remind myself to be kinder to, well, myself. Being a teenage girl's hard enough as it is…I don't want to let myself hate the way I look on top of it. The gossip columns don't exactly help either." She said quietly. He thought it was ridiculous that she, or anyone else, could hate the way that she looked, but was distracted by the last sentence.

"What do you mean?" He asked and she smiled wryly.

"I take it you don't bother reading Witch Weekly or the gossip in the back of the Prophet?" He shook his head. She stood up and reached under her bed. She pulled out a newspaper and flipped to a page. She handed it to him. There was a legitimate column discussing whether or not she was overweight. It was dated as last month, right after they came home from school.

"That's disgusting. What the hell is this?" He said and she shrugged.

"That's the price I pay for all of this." She said and gestured around. "The name, the position, the family, it all comes with a price: unrelenting scrutiny. Even my birth made headlines. You'd think that you'd get used to it, but you never get used to strangers judging you. It hurts just as much now as it did the first time." She said and Sirius was honestly revolted by the fact that people really got their rocks off on publically shaming and judging a fourteen-year-old girl on her weight.

"Dan…not to accidentally hit on you or anything, but you're really a pretty girl, even if you don't see it. It takes someone special to rock that hair." He said and she smiled.

"Thanks…How about something to eat? I make a pretty mean grilled cheese." She said, changing the subject.

"Sure, as long as it's not from St. Mungo's I'll take it." He said and followed her out of her room. As they walked back downstairs, he thought that she looked like she belonged here now that she was clean and seemed to be as bright as the house was. She walked into another room and saw it was the kitchen. It was as large and as lovely as the rest of the house. She started rummaging around and started the grilled cheese.

"So, I think my mom is starting to warm up to you." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"I still can't tell if she's just chronically depressed right now and needs help or is actually starting to like me." He said and she laughed as she flipped the sandwiches on the stovetop.

"Aw, you're being hard on yourself. Don't think that anyone will forget what you've done for our family. We're a lot of things but forgetful isn't one of them. Mom has a memory like a bloody elephant." She said. Sirius didn't doubt it. "Have you heard from Kenzie?" She asked, suddenly changing subjects again. Sirius started at the question; he had honestly forgotten about his girlfriend in light of the past week.

"No, I haven't heard from her since school ended…she was supposed to come over to James' but that clearly didn't happen. I don't know how he got rid of her when she got there but I guess he did somehow." He said with a shrug. "She's probably pissed that I bailed last second. You know James might be pissed too, now that I think about it." He said thoughtfully.

"I doubt James will be pissed at you. He can't stay mad at you, you have to know that by now." She said with a smile as she put the sandwiches on plates. She handed him one and they sat at the kitchen table.

"I live in a constant state of thinking that everyone is one the verge of hating me. It comes with being the black sheep of the family." He said half-jokingly. She tilted her head.

"If you're a black sheep in a dark family, does that make you the white sheep?" She asked with a small smile. He thought about it.

"Does it?"

"I think it does." She said decisively. Sirius ate his grilled cheese, thinking that over.

"Oh my god, this is incredible. What did you do to this sandwich?" He asked with his mouth full. She laughed at his face.

"I don't know…I just make it how my mom taught me to. It might be the butter, I'm not sure." She said with a shrug. "You might just be really sick of hospital food." She added on and Sirius nodded. He was really sick of shitty coffee and lukewarm meals.

"That definitely could be…but seriously I think everything might be better when someone else makes it for you." he said and she laughed.

"You sound like my brother. He's such a brat; Mom dotes on him so much. She still made him special dinners when he was like eleven." She said and Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

"And you're _not_ spoiled?" He asked, still smiling, and she instantly looked like she had regretted what she had said.

"I know we all look like we're ridiculously spoiled compared to what you live with on holiday. And you're right to think so. Don't think I don't know how fortunate I am to have a family that loves me. I know not everyone is so lucky." She said and Sirius was rather surprised. He hadn't been thinking about that at all and had meant it as a joke referring to her father's obvious preference for her over his son.

"Oh, yeah…well I'm pretty sure almost everyone has it better than me in the parental department so don't feel bad. Besides, I wouldn't wish my parents on my worst enemy." He said and she looked sad. Sympathetic was a good word for it, he decided.

"You're a good person despite their best efforts to make you otherwise, Sirius. Don't let anyone convince you of anything different." She said softly before picking up both of their plates and putting them in the sink. "We should probably go to bed. It's dark out." She said and Sirius looked out the window to see that it was truly night out.

"Yeah, can you point me in the direction of a guest room? I'd really like to sleep in a position that isn't upright." He said and she looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry about that…I didn't mean for that to happen…more than once." She said and he shrugged.

"Don't worry about it, it's not like you're living in a world of comfort on my lap." He said and it was true; there was no way she was very comfortable sleeping how she did; but at least she slept which, according to her mother, was an improvement.

"True. Come on, I'll find you a room with a view." She said with a smile. He followed her back upstairs and she stopped at a door. "This should do it. I'm two doors that way on the right if you need me." She said.

"Thanks Dan." He said and she smiled.

"Goodnight Sirius." She said and walked down the hall and vanished into her room. He opened the door to the guest room and true to form, it was lovely. He crawled into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.


	10. I Don't Want To Walk Alone

_Disclaimer: you all know the deal_

 _Hey! So I've moved to university and it's been a huge change but it's okay and i'm getting into the rhythm of things, so I'm back! This is a continuation of last chapter and Lily and James are back!_

 _Read and Review_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

Darling, hold my hand  
Oh, won't you hold my hand?  
Cause I don't wanna walk on my own anymore  
Won't you understand? Cause I don't wanna walk alone  
I'm ready for this, there's no denying  
I'm ready for this, you stop me falling  
I'm ready for this, I need you all in  
I'm ready for this, so darling, hold my hand

~ _Hold My Hand_ , Jess Glynne

* * *

Dany woke up for the first time in two weeks, in her own bed. Her eyes opened to the light streaming in through her windows and the feel of the breeze moving through the room. She sat up rubbing her eyes. Both she and Sirius had forgotten to close the balcony doors the night before and they had been letting fresh air stream in all night. She checked the time to see that it was almost eleven. Damn, it was late and they should be getting back to the hospital. She got out of bed and left her room, heading for the kitchen. On her way down, she quietly poked her head in Sirius' room to see that he was still sleeping so deeply that he appeared to be drooling.

She closed the door before she could start laughing at the look on his face. She headed back to her own room and changed into real clothes that didn't involve sweatpants. She noticed something on her desk. She walked over and realized that it was a giant ink spill. She immediately knew what it was. She had been writing a letter to, ironically enough, Sirius when her mother had come running into her bedroom. "Danilynn, we're going to St. Mungo's _now_." When she had asked what was happening her mother had simply said, "It's your father." That was when she had spilled the ink. She had stood up so fast that she had knocked the well over and hadn't bothered to right it before running out the door. She examined the half-written letter and decided that it wasn't even readable. She crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. She still needed to write Lily back from when her friend had written over two weeks ago. She sat down and started a letter that was almost a bald-faced lie.

 _Lily,_

 _I'm so sorry that I haven't written; time's just slipped away from me! Things have been crazy over here and I can hardly find the time to brush my teeth, never mind writing letters. I miss you like crazy and I'm so excited to see you next year. Maybe we can get together, just you and me, and go shopping for our books in Diagon Alley right before school. And you have to collect stories on the Vernon/Petunia love saga; I'm dying to hear more!_

 _Love,_

 _Dany_

Dany read it and even to her, it seemed artificial and fake; Lily would know something was wrong but Dany didn't really see another alternative to fibbing to her friend, at least for the time being. The door opened and she looked up; it was Sirius, who had apparently had rejoined the living sometime during the time she had taken to write her letter.

"Hey." She said and he waved back, rubbing a hand over his face. "I take it you slept well?" She said and he nodded.

"The beds in this house are heavenly, just so you know. God bless this house, just God bless." He said and there was still sleep written all over his voice. That voice was really cute, Dany thought absently before she could catch herself. Stop thinking that, she told herself sternly; he doesn't like you so stop indulging your crush, it'll just make it worse.

"I'll be sure to let my mom know that she has good taste in mattresses…we should probably eat breakfast and I'm going to head back to the hospital. You're more than welcome to leave for James'; I'm not going to force you to go back to sit with someone who isn't even your family." She said softly, secretly hoping that he'd decide to come with her; it was quite selfish, really. He shook his head.

"Nah, I couldn't go screw around with James with a clear conscious knowing that you were still cooped up in that room waiting for your dad to wake up. Besides, I think you and your mom are on the verge of killing each other. You know I still can't believe that your brother has been running the Ministry for two weeks now and no one has noticed. It appears that he's at least halfway competent." He said and she agreed. Rae had done a better job than they all had expected and had risen to the occasion remarkably.

"If you're sure…" She said and he nodded.

"I'm sure, Dan. Besides there would be no point going to James' now; I have to go back home tomorrow morning." He said and she felt her stomach drop. Damn. She had wondered how long until his parents expected him back but she had been putting off thinking about it, let alone asking.

"Oh, well that sucks. Sorry I kind of stole your whole week of freedom." She said and he smiled.

"It's alright. Now let's eat breakfast and go see that dad of yours." He said and they walked out of her room together.

They Flooed back to St. Mungo's at almost noon. Dany felt better than she had in a long time and she was certain that she looked it too. They quickly passed through the security near her dad's room and she momentarily hoped he would be awake; her hopes were dashed quickly when she walked in and nothing had changed. Her mom looked up and smiled.

"Dany. You look so much better. Do you feel better?" She asked and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks for making me go home, Mom. I needed it." She admitted and her mother smiled.

"Mother knows best, Dearie. Mother always knows best." She said smugly and sat back down. Dany sat too and Sirius sat next to her.

"No change?" She asked and her mother shrugged.

"He twitched a couple of times, but nothing came of it. The Healers think it's a good sign though; they think he'll be up in a few days and he'll have no lasting effects from it." She said and Dany felt hope for the first time since she had rushed here two weeks ago. "He still has a long way to go though, they think he'll need to be here for another week after he wakes up just to make sure everything's okay." And Dany nodded. She had been expecting that; no one was going to take risks with the Minister's health.

"Has Rae been by?" She asked and her mother, to her surprise, nodded.

"He stayed here last night. You just missed him." She said. Dany rolled her eyes; of course the one night she leaves, her brother stays the night. "He wasn't too happy to hear that Sirius was here." She added on. Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

"What did you tell him?" Dany asked cautiously. Her mother smiled softly.

"I told him to mind his own business and that he should be more concerned with not running the Ministry into the ground than your choice in friends." She said and Sirius relaxed.

"I told you that you were growing on her." Dany told him smugly. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah congrats on being right." He said and Dany saw her mother smile. "Now stop talking about it…you're not going to stop talking about it, are you?" He said and she shook her head with a laugh. "This is going to be like the mandrake thing from Second Year, isn't it?" He said, looking rather unenthused.

"Oh I forgot about that! This is absolutely going to be like that. But seriously you should have seen your face right before you hit the floor. And then James had to drag you by the ankles…good stuff." She said and her mother looked amused.

"Do I want to know?" She said. Sirius said "no" at the same time Dany started telling the story.

"Okay well Sirius has this problem where he doesn't really listen to instructions, in case you didn't know that. Anyways we were in Herbology at the start of Second Year and we were repotting Mandrakes and he apparently wasn't listening when Professor Sprout said to put on earmuffs. So when everyone pulled the plants out and they started to scream, he passed out. Then James had to drag him to the hospital wing. It was a beautiful thing." She said and her mother laughed.

"He _dragged_ you? All the way across the castle?" She said and Sirius nodded.

"Pomona Sprout is a cruel woman." He said gravely.

"She's my friend." Dany's mom said with a dead-serious expression. Sirius looked mortified before she started laughing. "I'm just kidding, I don't know her. But you're right though, dear; his face is hilarious." She said and Sirius shook his head as Dany laughed.

"Women are going to be the death of me." He said and Dany smiled.

"Kenzie might take you out once she figures out that you ditched her to go sit in a hospital all week. _That_ might just be the death of you." She said knowingly and Sirius groaned.

"Hopefully she'll never find out; I don't want to have that conversation right when we get back to school." He said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"You know this will be your longest one yet, I mean it's just because you never see her, but still. It's an achievement; Sirius Black has finally had a relationship that lasted more than four weeks." She teased and she saw her mother raise an eyebrow. "It's a shame really, I've been making good money off your relationships. The girls are really crappy gamblers and I've been cleaning up." She said thoughtfully.

"Danilynn Charlotte, what have I told you about gambling?" Her mother said and Dany shrugged.

"Relax Mom, the bets are never more than two galleons and I hardly ever lose." She said and her mother still didn't look convinced but didn't say anything. In the moment of silence that fell between Dany trying to soothe her mom about her gambling and the next stream of conversation, another voice spoke.

"Aw, come on Rhea, what's life without a little bit of a gamble?" Everyone's heads snapped up; they were the only people in the room…except for her father. They all looked over and his eyes were open and even though he looked slightly disoriented, his eyes were the same as they always had been; he still had dancing eyes.

"Sirius, go get a Healer." Dany heard herself say as she rushed towards the bed. Her mother appeared to be in shock and Sirius left the room quickly. "Daddy?" she said quietly as she took his hand. He blinked harshly.

"Dany…my sweet child, my beautiful daughter. I'm assuming I'm in St. Mungo's?" He said and she nodded. "Yes, I do remember that someone shot me; that wasn't very considerate of them." He commented. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Two weeks. Two weeks as of yesterday." She said and he looked sad.

"Oh, well that's quite a while. I'm sorry that you had to see this, Sweetheart." He said and she nodded.

"It's not your fault, Daddy. You didn't ask for this to happen. Me, Mom, and Rae have been awfully worried though. You'll never guess how well he's been doing at the Ministry while you've been gone." She said and he smiled weakly at her.

"I'll be sure to ask him all about it once I'm out of this damn bed."

"Dan. The Healer's here." Sirius said suddenly and Dany looked up to see her father's healer standing next to her friend. Sirius pulled her back from the bed so the Healer could get a better look at her patient.

"Ah, Sirius Black. I told you that we'd meet again. I'm always right." He said with a smile. Sirius smiled at him.

"It's good to see you awake, sir. Everyone's been really worried." He said and her father weakly waved a hand.

"You're in my hospital room and from the way that my wife _isn't_ glaring at you, I'm going to guess you've been here for a while. Call me Daniel." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow at that observation. He really was growing on her mom. "How long _have_ you been here? My guess is far longer than most people would expect or ask of you." He asked of her friend.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, but I've been here for a week now." He said quietly and her father raised his eyebrows as his healer examined his chest.

"Danilynn, he's a good friend. I like him. Keep him. A man that cares about you enough to sit in your father's hospital room is worth keeping." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of like him too…besides, now that Mom likes him, I have to keep him. People that she likes don't grow on trees." She said lightly and her father laughed quietly and then almost immediately winced at the jerking movement.

"It appears that I'm not exactly at full strength. How's it looking down there Michelle?" He asked and Michelle, his healer, looked up from his wound.

"Your lungs are back in working order and your ribs are healed. The only thing left is the head trauma. Any kind of blow to the head is always risky to fix with magic so we'll be keeping you under close observation for the next week, Minister." She said and he nodded.

"Michelle, how long have you been friends with my wife? Ten years now? You delivered both of my children. I think you can use my first name as well. Everyone's so bloody formal around here." He said and Dany smiled. It was good to have him back. Dany glanced at her mom, who had been absolutely silent the entire time. She was staring at her husband intensely. Her father followed her line of sight. "Rhea…" He said softly. She smiled and walked towards the bed, putting a hand on the side of his face. She saw the tears start to come out of her mom's eyes and Dany bumped Sirius in the arm and gestured out of the room. They both left quietly and soon after, Michelle left the room too, running into them as they were standing outside of the door to give her parents some time alone.

"Your father will be just fine, Miss Masters; he'll be just fine." She said with a smile. Dany hugged her tightly.

"Thank you. Thank you for bringing him back to us." She said and Michelle hugged her back.

"Your parents love each other very much; I'd give them a little more time before going back in there. Get some coffee maybe. I know it tastes like dirt but it'll give you something to do." She said. "I need to see to some other things, but I'm sure I'll be seeing you again. And you," She said, turning to Sirius, "you're a remarkable person; don't think I don't recognize those signature grey eyes, Mr. Black. Your parents would be ashamed of this, and for that you should be very proud." She said and Sirius smiled, despite looking rather shocked that she had correctly guessed who he was. She walked away and Dany leaned up against a wall.

"Why do your parents always have these really perceptive friends? It's kind of strange." He said and she shrugged.

"I guess they like people that can see through their professional lies." She said and he smiled. It was going to be a good day.

* * *

Lily knew something was wrong. Dany's letter was surface-deep, not bothering to ask questions or tease her about James. It wasn't her at all. The redhead shook her head as she read it, worried. There was only about a month of summer left, and the last week or so didn't really count because she was always so caught up in getting ready to go back to school. Even though there was something clearly wrong with her best friend, she fully intended to take her up on going shopping.

 _Dany,_

 _It's good to hear from you. I was getting a little worried to be honest. I have so much to tell you about Petunia and Vernon—still no engagement though so we might be losing that bet, unfortunately. I got a letter from Remus about a week ago and he wanted to know if I'd heard from you; Sirius was supposed to be at James' this week but he had to go somewhere else last minute and Remus wanted to know if you knew anything about it. You haven't heard from him have you? I really hope that his parents aren't treating him too badly._

 _I'm definitely going to take you up on that shopping offer later this summer. Just give me a date sometime in August (after our letters come of course) and I'll plan on being there. It'll be good to catch up, just us two. Please write back soon or I'll start to worry about you again!_

 _Lots of Love,_

 _Lily_

 _P.S. don't think I don't know something's wrong, Danilynn. I want answers._

She reread her letter and decided that it was appropriate; it didn't sound _too_ worried but also didn't blow off the fact that her friend had suddenly dropped off the face of the planet for almost three weeks. She gave it to her owl with instructions to go to Dany and he hooted in understanding before taking off through her window. There was nothing more she could do to soothe her worries about her best friend so she tried to put that aside for now.

"Lily! Come downstairs!" Her mother shouted for her. Lily cautiously walked down the stairs to see Sugar Lips—Vernon; she corrected herself (she had taken to calling him that in her head)—standing in the hallway, apparently just arrived. Damn, she had forgotten that he was coming over _again_ for dinner. She hoped her mother hadn't forgotten too because she had to make double of everything for when he came over because of his eating habits that consisted of eating way too much in way too short of a time span. Petunia looked at her from where she was stationed next to Sugar—erm, Vernon and she looked like she had swallowed something foul. Petunia always looked like someone had shoved a lemon up her butt these days so Lily didn't think too much about it.

"Yeah, Mom?" She said. Mrs. Evans smiled at her and she could tell that her daughter had forgotten that they had been expecting a guest.

"Dinner's ready, dear." She said and quickly winked at her daughter. Lily had helped her prepare dinner last time Vernon had been over (Petunia had been out of the house) and the two had almost broken their ribs laughing so hard over how much extra food there had to be. Lily followed her mom into the dining room to see her father was already there, reading the newspaper. Lily suspected that the Daily Prophet was hiding behind the Muggle newspaper he appeared to be reading; her parents no longer trusted her to bring home _all_ of the news after her little misstep about failing to mention the war so they subscribed to the magical newspaper. Sure enough, when she walked behind him she caught a glimpse of a moving picture. He quickly closed the paper, hiding it from Vernon.

"Alright everyone, let's take a seat and dig in." He said merrily and everyone took a seat around the round table.

"Looks great, Mom." Lily said and Petunia glared at her. Because heaven forbid she compliment her own mother.

"Thank you, Lily." She said and a silence overcame the table as everyone ate. Lily kept an eye on Vernon and Petunia, waiting for something noteworthy to happen. She had been compiling stories all summer, knowing that her best friend would want to hear them later. "Have you heard anything from Dany, Lily? It's been a while since she's…called." Her mother asked, quickly omitting writing letters for the much more Muggle mode of communication. She nodded.

"Yeah, I heard from her yesterday. She seemed okay, I guess. She just didn't seem…herself. She wanted to know if it would be okay if we met up right before we went back to school to go shopping for our things. That's really all she said." Lily said after swallowing her mouthful of food.

"Is everything alright over there? I'd hate to hear that something was wrong with her or her family; they're lovely people." Her father added on and Lily shrugged.

"I don't know. Normally I'd say that if something were wrong she'd tell me but this was…different. It was like she didn't want to say anything that could be found or heard." Lily said slowly, realizing that that would be just like her best friend; she was the Minister's daughter and whatever was weighing on her probably wasn't safe to travel by owl, lest it be intercepted.

"If you're sure…I'm just glad you heard from her." Lily's mom said and Lily nodded.

"I am too."

"Mom, did I forget to mention that I got a raise this week?" Petunia suddenly said and Lily fell quiet, understanding that her time to talk was over.

"You did? That's fantastic, Petunia. Congratulations! Did your boss say what warranted it?" Her mother exclaimed. Petunia nodded.

"He said it was my work ethic and how quickly I typed. I'm the quickest one in the company at typing." She added on, pointedly looking at her sister as if she expected Lily to be impressed. Lily would have been more impressed if Petunia had said she had been fired for thinking for herself for once.

"That typing class really paid off, I see." The girls' father said. Petunia nodded.

"It's helped me so much at work and of course I met Vernon there." She said, love-struck. Lily didn't miss the sappy eye contact they made and she had to fight the urge to throw up. This was just disgusting. She made eye contact with her mom who smiled a little in agreement.

"Of course you did, dear. Speaking of which, how's work going, Vernon?" Her father said.

"Business is great right now; it's a big time for construction so sales are going through the roof. They need more sales representatives so I'm thinking about applying for a position instead of waiting for a promotion in a couple of years." He said and Lily thought that his ego was proportionate to his weight. And she had thought Rhaegar had a relatively large ego. He was like a slice of humble pie compared to the giant man in front of her. At least Rhaegar had a reason to have an ego; he was _someone_ , a very important someone at that, and much more significant than a man who worked for a drill company. And besides, it wasn't uncommon for the eldest Masters child to soften in front of his family and friends and allow other people to correct him and help; Lily had a feeling that Vernon's ego was pervasive throughout every aspect of his life and because of that would never improve or learn anything other than what he already knew.

"Oh, that's quite exciting. Petunia did you know about this?" Her father asked and Petunia nodded. "Well why didn't you tell us? That's very ambitious of you and I appreciate a man with ambition." That part was true. Thomas Evans valued ambition and intelligence more than almost anything except compassion and family.

"I didn't know you'd think it was such a big deal, Dad. I would have mentioned it if I had known. Besides, I thought Vernon would have liked to tell you himself." She said and Lily quite agreed with that statement; she had no doubt that one of Vernon Dursley's favorite pastimes was talking about himself and all of his virtues.

"Of course. Well, Vernon I wish you the best of luck in the application process." Her father said. Lily interrupted.

"Mom how was tennis today?" She asked. And her mother held up a finger as she finished chewing.

"It was good. The girls all say hi to all of you. Lily, Denise said she was driving by our house late a few nights ago and saw your light on at almost two in the morning. What were you doing up so late?" She asked and Lily felt her stomach drop.

"Oh, I was just up late finishing up my summer work for school is all. Now that I'm a Fourth Year, they're really starting to crack down on the workloads. It's taken some real work and a lot of time to finish for Professor McGonagall." She said. It was a lie. She had been up debating whether or not to write to James about Dany in a fit of insomnia. She had decided to, thinking it was better to have her peace of mind and look crazy than to actually go crazy with worry. Denise must have seen her writing the letter that James had yet to reply to.

"Oh, well I'll tell her that it's nothing to be worried about. She just thought it was unusual for you is all." Her mother said with slightly narrowed eyes. Her mom hadn't bought her lie but she wasn't going to bust her right now, at dinner, in front of a guest.

The rest of dinner went smoothly and Lily helped her mother clean dishes in the kitchen as Vernon, Petunia, and her father all moved to the sitting room.

"Lily…what were you actually doing up? Your father might have believed that but I don't." She said. Lily stopped scrubbing the plate she had in her hand and leaned against the counter.

"It's Dany. We were writing back and forth consistently all summer and she had even asked me to go to hers again sometime this summer but suddenly she sent me a letter that said that she couldn't have me over after all because she had family obligations and then she just…disappeared. And then at the same time, Remus wrote me and said that Sirius had bailed on plans he had with James and them because he claimed to have something more pressing going on…I don't know, it just seemed fishy and then I got a letter from her tonight, three weeks late mind you, but it just seemed so fake. Not to mention that I wrote Sirius earlier this summer just to make sure he was okay and he never answered. Something's wrong and I don't know what." Lily told her mom, who listened quietly. Her mother had always been a good listener.

"You think Dany's with Sirius?" Her mother asked and Lily shrugged.

"More like Sirius is with Dany. She cancelled her plans with me a week before Sirius cancelled with James. Remus said he even cancelled with his girlfriend…whatever happened, it was enough to convince Sirius that he could skip a week-long snogging session." Lily said.

"He cancelled for the entire week last minute?" Her mother asked skeptically and Lily nodded.

"That's what Remus said. He said that Sirius wrote James a few days before he was supposed to come over and said 'I have something else to do' and then never showed up."

"What does your gut tell you, Lil?" Her mother asked. Lily went with her first instinct.

"Something's wrong. Something is very, _very_ wrong. And that's why I was up, I was writing to James; I know I don't like him much but if anyone would know what was going on with either Dany or Sirius, let alone both, it would be him." Lily said and her mother nodded.

"It _does_ sound that way. Maybe she'll tell you what happened when you're at Diagon Alley." Her mother suggested. "Maybe she _can't_ tell you because she isn't allowed. We just don't know the circumstances Lil. Give it some time; nothing is going to come out of you working yourself into a fit." Her mother said before picking up the sponge she was using to clean the dishes. "Now, let's get these done before Petunia and Sugar Lips—I mean Vernon, bore your father to death." She said with a wink. Lily laughed and continued to dry the dishes her mother handed her.

* * *

Sirius woke up in a very familiar position. His was sitting up, head drooped onto his shoulder and Dany's head on the other shoulder. He looked down at her and she, for once, looked peaceful. He had seen the complete change in character as soon as her father had opened his eyes. Her eyes had lit up she had smiled a true smile and she seemed to return to her usual, brilliant self. Then there had been Rhea. She had looked at her husband with such love when he had woken up. He had never seen someone so in love with another person. And when they had walked out of the room, she had been leaning over him, foreheads pressed together and smiling. It was no wonder that Dany had never lost hope in marrying for love: her parents were a walking fairytale.

He wasn't looking forward to telling Dany that it was time for him to go back to his house. He wanted to stay here; truth be told, he didn't want to stay here, he wanted to stay with her, hospital room or not. But he had to go back to his parents and he had to go soon. His one consolation was that he was sure that they would have known about the attempt on the Minister's life and they were about to have their hopes severely dashed that he wouldn't be waking up from the coma. Dany shifted in her sleep and soon her eyes opened. She looked around and smiled when she saw her dad. Sirius hoped that nothing ever happened to Daniel Masters because he wasn't sure that Dany could survive losing him for good. She looked up at him.

"Hey. Have you been up long?" She asked, yawning. She was really cute when she woke up he thought, and then stopped himself before his mind could go any further. She was so far out of his league it wasn't even funny; there was no point in encouraging his feelings to be worse than they were because there was no way that the Minister's daughter would ever feel the same way about a Black. Besides, he told himself, after he left the hospital today, he'd probably never see her wake up in the morning again. That made him quite sad for some reason.

"No, I just got up. How'd you sleep down there?" He said and she stood up. She glanced over at her mom, who was still sleeping in a chair, next to Daniel. Sirius noticed that they were holding hands in their sleep. It was simultaneously touching and nauseatingly sweet.

"I slept really well actually. I think it's the greatly reduced stress levels. It's easier to sleep when you don't feel like you might be attending a funeral when you wake up." She said and Sirius found that rather depressing yet disturbingly accurate for the situation.

"Well that's uplifting, thank you Danilynn." He said dryly and she shrugged as she sat back down next to him.

"It's the truth. I'm just glad he's awake and talking. I've never seen Mom so happy."

"Yeah…they really _are_ still in love. That much is obvious." He said and she nodded.

"You know they're so different from each other that I kind of forget that they fell in love once. Of course they still love each other but I just forget that they were kids in love at one point and that they had the awkward first date and first kiss and all of that. It's easy just to think of them as your parents and not people with pasts." She said thoughtfully. He looked at her curiously; that was an unexpected line of conversation but he was saved from answering by Daniel waking up and as soon as he started moving, Rhea woke up too. They both looked around, still half-asleep. Daniel smiled at both of them and Dany smiled back.

"Good morning you two." Daniel said. "Sirius I don't know how I feel about my daughter sleeping on top of you." He said and Sirius was momentarily alarmed but then caught the little smile on his face.

"Oh hush Daniel, it was the only way we could get _your_ daughter to sleep at all." Rhea reprimanded him with a smile.

"Well in that case, I apologize for having to sit with her on you all the time; people in this family have always craved human contact. It appears that my daughter inherited that from me." He said and Dany stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's real mature Dad, thank you so much." She said and he laughed.

"I'm just being honest with the boy, Danilynn." He said and she rolled her eyes. Sirius checked the time. It was almost noon.

"Dan…I really need to…" He said and made a gesture so vague that he wasn't quite sure what he had meant to do in the first place. Either way, she understood him.

"Right. I'll walk you to the lobby." She said and he nodded.

"You're leaving? So soon after I wake up? I feel insulted Sirius." The Minister said and he smiled.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal. My parents are expecting me back today. I really _am_ glad that you're okay though." He said and Daniel smiled.

"Danilynn why don't you wait outside with your mother for a moment?" They both looked like they were going to protest but nodded and left, following his request.

The Minister turned his attention to Sirius, something he found quite unnerving.

"Thank you for staying here with my family. I know you didn't have to but you did anyways. You helped her in a time she needed someone desperately and don't think that will ever be forgotten by this family. You're a kind person, Sirius and you have more to you than anyone gives you credit for, including yourself…and I know how you feel about her, at least I can guess. I was the same age when I fell in love with her mother; she demolished me in a duel one time and that was it. The women in my wife's family are all like that; Rhea's father always said that they're game changers. Then again, I'm biased seeing that I'm married to one and am the father of another." He said with a smile. "You'll surprise yourself, believe me." Sirius nodded, rather dumbstruck by what had just come out of the Minister's mouth. "Alright, you best go get them before they start listening through the door." Sirius went to open the door and Rhea walked back in while Sirius walked out to leave.

"Sirius. Thank you." Rhea said softly and he nodded before following Dany down to the lobby.

"Now, I want you to write me all the time so I know you're alive. We don't need anymore near-death accidents this summer, you hear?" She was telling him as they walked. "And please hold your tongue with your mother; I'd rather not have to patch you up again if it's avoidable." She kept going. They reached the fireplace. "Just…come back to Hogwarts in one piece." She said before allowing him to step into the fireplace.

"Bye Dan." He said. She waved.

"Thank you. For everything." He heard her say before the emerald flames consumed him. He landed in the kitchen of his house, stumbling so badly that he dropped his bag and almost landed on his face. He blamed the uneven stone floors.

"I see you're back." Sirius heard someone say. He looked up to see that it was his mother. Fantastic.

"I am. I said the 28th didn't I?" He asked as he collected his bag off the ground.

"Yes, you did. Time has gotten away from me," Because you're demented, Sirius thought, "with all of this nonsense going around about the whole Minister tragedy." She said casually and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"You haven't heard? The Minister of Magic is in St. Mungo's. There was an assassination attempt and it looks like it will be successful after all. Thank goodness, if you ask me. Now all we need is for someone to take the brats out." She said. She was clearly baiting him but she had no idea that he had the upper hand. For once he knew more than his mother. He ignored the last part, making a conscious effort not to smack her.

"There's no way. I just saw Dany; she was at James'. Her dad's fine. I think she would have mentioned it if her dad was dying." He said and she looked surprised. The fact she knew about it at all was unsurprising. Even though it had been kept out of the papers, people in the darker parts of the Wizarding World were sure to know about the attempt to kill Daniel. Whoever had done it had either assumed that he would eventually die or his mother was just making the last part up in an attempt to torment him. Probably the latter.

"Go to your room." She said, clearly recognizing that she wasn't going to win this conversation. Sirius shrugged and walked by her. "And Sirius, I know you haven't been at the Potter's. I don't know where you went but rest assured, I _will_ find out." She said and he paused.

"Go ahead and look. I was at James' the entire week." He said before walking up to his room. His mother didn't believe him and he had an uneasy feeling about this; it wouldn't be very hard to find something that connected him back to St. Mungo's. A picture taken of Dany at the hospital, a bribe to the security guards that had checked him in and out of the wing Daniel had been in all week, a talk to one of the people who had been in the lobby when he had walked in, even his clothes smelled like the hospital and his hair smelled like a girl's shampoo. It would be easy for her if she knew the right places to look.

As it turned out, Walburga Black _did_ know the right places to look because a week later, three weeks before he was set to leave for Hogwarts, she opened the door to his room with a bang. He had actually been doing his summer work for once and _of course_ that was the time she chose to yell at him. She walked in and hit him across the face. This never meant anything good.

"You lying little shit. I thought you snuck off with some girl, I thought you had just gone off with some random whore. But do you know what I found out? Do you know what my friends that monitor the Floo Network said? I asked them to look at our fireplaces, I figured you wouldn't think to stop somewhere before coming straight here. I could account for every single use of the Floo except for one. You came here from St. Mungo's. So naturally, I went to St. Mungo's to see what on Earth you would have been doing there and then I see all of the security and I realize that someone important must be here still. And the woman behind the desk told me, with the help of a few galleons, that you'd been going in and out all week, mainly going to get coffee, just passing through the lobby. Said the last time she saw you leave was the day you came back here and funnily enough, it was the Masters bitch that walked you to the Floo. You were never at Potter's house. You've been at the hospital all week with her and her bottom-feeding family, weren't you?" Fuck.

"What the hell are you—?" He started by she slapped him again.

"Don't lie to me. So what was it? Did she write you, tell you that Daddy was in the hospital, that he was _dying_? So you went to see her because she asked you to? Did she need a friend?" His mother snarled. She looked crazy, Sirius thought to himself in an oddly calm way. "The worst part of this all isn't that you lied to our faces, or that you went to see her, it's that you sat by the Minister's bedside for a _week_ , didn't you? The man that our family hates, that we've denounced as leader of the Wizarding World. You sat there with his family, you probably even stayed up at night with his daughter and hoped he would get better." Sirius was so royally fucked he couldn't even begin to describe it.

"Yes, Mother that's exactly what I did. And I'll tell you why. Because you're not my family. You never have been." He snapped and he knew she was probably now livid and he was probably going to die.

"Never? What if someone decides to tell her all about what you were like before you went to Hogwarts? What if someone _accidentally_ tells her about that little promise you made to the Dark Lord when you were a boy? She'd be just as repulsed by you as she is by us." Sirius thanked the universe that he had already told all of that to Dany. For once, being upfront with his unfortunate past had paid off. His mother officially had no leverage.

"Go ahead, she already knows. All of it. She _has_ known for a while. You're a little late to the party." He said dryly. Not many things or people could shock his mother, but this did.

"She knows? Who told her?"

"I did. Last year. She understood, she accepted it, we all moved on. She knows about it all, how I was, what I believed, what I promised Voldemort, which is something I have no intention of ever fulfilling, everything. Has it ever occurred to that there's a reason people love her? Why she's the darling of the Wizarding World? It's probably because she's a good person, someone that power _hasn't_ corrupted…unlike some people." He said pointedly and she looked truly thrown off balance by the fact that her son had openly admitted to his past.

"She was okay with it? Little Miss Precious forgave you for that? You've got to be joking. Lying isn't going to make this go away. Besides, it's not like all those people actually know the kind of person they love; she's not all that she's talked up to be, she can't humanly be that…good." His mother said the last word distastefully, like it burned her mouth to say. It probably did. Sirius thought about the girl he knew personally and while she certainly wasn't perfect, and she wasn't a doll, she was a lot of what the papers and the people said; she was kind and giving and charitable and forgiving. He remembered what James had said about her believing in redemption; she'd believe in someone until they gave her a reason not to.

"She's exactly that good. And that's your first mistake. You underestimate them, all of them. And by the way, I'm not lying and nothing you do is going to make what I did go away. I was at the hospital and I sat up with Dany and her mom at night and I hoped to whatever god there is that Daniel Masters would open his eyes and the day before I came back to this shithole, he did. The best part of all of that is that you can never get reverse any of it. The truth's a bitch that way. And in case you were wondering, he'll be making a full recovery." He snapped. His mother had no way to answer that except with the Cruciatus curse.

* * *

 _James,_

 _I know I seriously don't ever write to you, I mean we hardly ever talk without Dany there…except when we're talking about Dany, if you know what I mean. But anyways, I haven't heard from her in a while and Remus wrote me a little while ago saying that Sirius cancelled his plans with you, the rest of the guys, and Kenzie last minute. I wrote him earlier this summer too and he didn't answer, which is highly unlike him, unless something big came up. Between his sudden cancellation and the fact Dany's essentially gone radio silent, I'm starting to get worried. I just want to know that they're okay, is all. Please write back soon, before I lose my mind._

 _Lily_

James stared at the letter that he must have reread at least thirty times in the last hour. When the unfamiliar owl had tapped on his window, he had felt dread grip his stomach; strange owls were never good news. But then he had read the letter and he had relaxed; sure he _was_ worried about his friends but he was just glad it _wasn't_ a letter telling him that his parents had been killed in the line of duty.

His parents had been gone a lot over the past few weeks and when he questioned them about it, they had said it was classified by the Ministry and refused to say anymore. He thought about the week Remus, Frank, and Peter had been over and it had been great; they all played Quidditch and stayed up late nights drinking butterbeer but James couldn't stop the nagging feeling in his stomach that something was very wrong. Sirius' change in plans had set his teeth on edge. _They said I could come over but I kind of have something to do instead. Would it be cool if I Flooed to your place and then Flooed again somewhere else? I don't need them knowing where I'm going._ And Lily was right; Dany had vanished. As a matter of fact, the entire family had vanished suddenly, as if they had decided to leave in the dark of night. When he had asked his parents if he could drop by the Masters house one day they had both practically yelled 'no' and forced him back to his room.

So naturally he had gone on his own after receiving Lily's letter, using the Floo when they were gone. He walked into their living room and everything looked normal. Until he looked in the entryway and things started to stand out to him. Rhea's purse was still here; Daniel's house keys were still on the table. There was half-drank coffee on the kitchen table. Someone had left in a hurry.

James had cleaned that up and gone upstairs to Dany's room. Everything here looked pretty normal too until he saw something dripping onto her carpet from her desk. It was a spilled inkwell. He looked down at the parchment that she had been writing on and could only discern one word, who it was to. _Sirius._ The bottom of the parchment was ripped off, like she had grabbed it. She had left without bothering to right a spilled inkwell. He wiped the ink off the wood floors, knowing as well as anyone else that it would stain and she'd be in a world of hurt. He left the inkwell tipped over, wanting to prevent his presence from being too obvious. He looked around her desk some more and saw Lily's unanswered letter. He didn't read it past recognizing Lily's handwriting.

He saw something fluttering on the top of the piano. It was the torn piece of parchment that she had ripped off of her ruined letter to Sirius. He picked it up and, before he could talk himself out of it, read it. He recognized Sirius' handwriting.

 _James wants me over this coming Monday, the 21_ _st_ _, so I'll be out of the house. I'll come as soon as I can. Hang in there for a few days Dan._

James raised his eyebrows. There was clearly something going on and he guessed he was about to figure out why Sirius had so suddenly cancelled on him, not to mention his girlfriend. James flipped the parchment over and he felt his blood run cold. Sirius had apparently replied on the back of what she had written him and her owl had come back here to drop it off, not knowing where else to go. He looked over and saw the Masters family owl eyeing him from his perch on top of Dany's dresser.

 _Someone tried to kill Dad. He's in St. Mungo's and I'm leaving now with Mom and Rae. He hasn't woken up since it happened. If you have a chance (and I know it's almost impossible because of your family so I don't even know why I'm asking) I really could use you with me right now._

"Oh shit." James said quietly in the empty house. Daniel was in the hospital and no one had told him. Why had she written to Sirius and not him? He actually knew the man. Then he supposed that was the exact reason that she had opted to not write him. What she had written was a plea for someone who wasn't debilitated by his or her emotions. She needed someone stable and James knew that he wouldn't be able to offer her that, not with this. He was still surprised that she hadn't written Lily. Lily was widely regarded as her best friend and she would have been James' first guess as to whom Dany would write to in a panic.

That's where his parents had been. They had been caught up in the assassination attempt on Daniel. He guessed they were either at St. Mungo's protecting him or off guarding the family. He knew that Rhea and Dany wouldn't leave his side, but someone had to run the Ministry…that meant it was Rhaegar running the Ministry right now. They were protecting Rhaegar. James was surprised that the Ministry hadn't fallen to pieces yet under the seventeen-year-old's command. After that, James Flooed back home and sat down at the kitchen table to wait for his parents.

They walked in not forty minutes later and looked surprised to see him sitting there, completely silent.

"James. What are you doing?" His mother asked as his father poured himself something to drink.

"How's Daniel?" He asked them and his mother raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse me? How would we know?" She said and James almost believed her. Almost.

"I just figured you'd know how he was doing because you're Aurors and because, you know, someone tried to kill him." James said shortly. His dad dropped his drink onto the floor and it shattered as his mom's mouth flopped open.

"How did you know that?" She whispered.

"I went to their house today, while you were gone. No one was home and things looked pretty normal except for the little stuff. Rhea's purse was still there, Daniel's keys were there, there was half-drank coffee on the table, nothing big but still noticeable; someone had clearly had left quickly. So I went upstairs, into Dany's room, and there was a knocked over inkwell. And I thought that was odd, that she'd leave without bothering to pick it up and wipe up the ink, so I kept looking. And I found something, a little piece of parchment that she had sent to Sirius that he had sent back with his response on the back. She said someone tried to kill her dad and he hadn't woken up yet. That's where you've been, isn't it? That's why you're on call 24/7 these days." James said and his parents looked shocked. James felt rather victorious at this.

"She wrote Sirius?" His dad said, clearly surprised by this.

"Yeah, said she could use him with her right now…but that's kind of irrelevant right now. I can't believe you didn't tell me. He's my Godfather and now he's dying!" James yelled at them and his father yelled back.

"James Potter! He's not dying. He's going to be fine so calm down and listen to what someone else has to say for once!" He roared and James fell silent. His parents hardly ever raised their voices.

"Rhea told us under the strict condition that we told no one, not even you. He woke up not two days ago, and his healer says that he'll be fine with time. And I don't think that Dany wrote to Sirius with her mother's permission so that's a surprise to all of us." His mother said, rubbing her temples.

"I guess that's why he cancelled last minute with us a few weeks ago. I thought you would have known that, considering you've probably been in St. Mungo's protecting Daniel." James said, no longer furious, now that his fear had abated, but still slightly angry.

"First of all, we haven't been at the hospital, we've been with Rhaegar. Rhea hardly ever leaves Daniel's side and so their son had been running the Ministry. We sneak him in every morning so no one knows that it's him. Secondly, we had no right telling you what happened; the details are being held back even from his own daughter so we have no intention of telling our child what led to this." His mother responded and sat down at the table.

"He's going to be okay?" James said softly and his dad nodded.

"Yeah, he had a couple of sketchy weeks but he's awake and talking now. He'll be fine, James." He said and James nodded.

"I didn't mean to yell."

"Yes you did." His mother said and he saw the small smile on her face.

"Alright, I meant to but I think I had a justified reason to yell. I'm just glad he'll be okay." James said and his father sat down at the table and James was reminded that before he had been Daniel's Godson, his father had been Daniel's Best Man.


	11. Sit Outside Your Door

_Disclaimer: Not mine :(_

 _Hey! You guys know the drill._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Essie._

* * *

Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago  
Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword  
Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know  
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

~ _From Eden_ , Hozier

* * *

Her father was discharged from the hospital two weeks before school was set to resume and a week after he had come home, Dany was set to go see Lily in Diagon Alley. She was being permitted to go on her own on the promise that she would keep her wand with her at all times and not leave the Alley except to go to the Leaky Cauldron.

The week he had been home was filled with her mother fretting over her father and her father insisting, "Rhea, I'm fine, I survived. So if you don't mind, I'd like to get on with my bloody life". Rhaegar had done wonderfully at playing Minister but one night after their parents had gone to sleep, he had admitted that he was far from competent.

"Dan…I'm just not ready for it; not yet, anyways. I was so scared and what people were telling me and asking me to do…I just don't think I could do it right now. I hope Dad doesn't decide to suddenly retire because we're all fucked if he does." He had told her and she had nodded.

"You did a good job, Rae. No one knew it was you and you kept everything in working order until Dad could get out of St. Mungo's. And I don't think that Dad's going anywhere for a while; you've got plenty of time to practice." She had told him, patting him on the arm. "Besides, when you become Minister, I'll be there. Your shithead little sister will be right next to you, making sure that you don't screw it up _too_ badly. I'd hate to see generations of hard work go crashing to the ground because you make some boneheaded decision." She said and he scowled at her.

"That was so nice until that last bit. You were so close to being comforting. How _is it_ that I keep hearing from people that you're such a good listener? You don't seem it, Dan." He said with an eye roll. She grinned before responding.

"If I told you, I'd be breaking the promises I made to keep secrets."

"But I'm your brother. James said you don't tell him anything either; this is so unfair." He said and she looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean? Anything I know so does James. Except for…" She trailed off.

"Except for Black. Yeah. James said he has no idea how much he's told you but you definitely know more than he does. I think you can share with your own brother." He pried. Dany wasn't impressed.

"You're the world's biggest snoop. If you want to know, why don't you go ask Sirius yourself?" She said, not amused at all.

"Come on, Dan. What could he possibly have said?" He said, still looking like he would give an arm to get into her friends' personal lives.

"I'm taking _that_ to the grave, Rhaegar. Goodnight." She said, clearly serious. She stood up and left him sitting in the family room, looking like he wasn't sure what had just happened.

She and Lily had agreed to meet in the Leaky Cauldron at noon the Tuesday before school started. So Dany sat idly at the bar, talking to Tom the Bartender and waiting for her best friend to arrive.

"I'm telling you, Miss Danilynn, I don't think the Cannons are ever gonna win another Cup again." He told her seriously as she sipped her butterbeer.

"Oh, I completely agree and am glad that someone else sees it too. My dad's just insistent that they'll make some big comeback one day. Unfortunately we'll all likely have been dead and gone for over two hundred years when that happens." Dany responded and the man laughed.

"Too true. But between you and me, ma'am, I don't think even two hundred years can fix that team." He said and she laughed too.

"Ah, it's so funny because it's true…poor Dad, he'll never live to see the revival of his favorite underdog team." She said. Tom opened his mouth to respond when she heard a sudden voice.

" _Dany?_ " Dany turned to see Lily standing behind her.

"Hey, Lils! Oh, Lily this is Tom, he's the bartender here. Tom, this is Lily Evans; she's going into Fourth Year with me." Dany said. Tom and Lily said hello. "Alright well we best be off…good to talk to you Tom." She said before paying the man for the butterbeer.

"Always a pleasure Miss Danilynn. Tell your folks I say hello." He said merrily and Dany hugged her best friend.

"It's so good to see you, Lily. I've missed you, my ginger." Lily whacked her in the arm out of habit.

" _I'm a redhead_." She corrected and Dany laughed.

"Don't ever change." She said as the two girls walked through the Alley.

"So, Danilynn Masters I want to know what the hell happened to you this summer." Lily said, getting right to the point.

"Lils, we just got here. Don't you think we can hold off on the serious talk for a bit?" Dany sighed and Lily waved a hand.

"I'm not talking about your sketchy behavior and vanishing act, which we _are_ talking about later, I'm talking about _you_." Lily said and gestured to her friend. Dany looked down at herself. She had gained back a couple of the pounds that she had lost during her dad's hospital stint and her mother had approved, saying she looked much too thin and the three extra pounds would be adequate.

"Yeah, I know I lost a little weight, but there's a reason. I'll tell you about it later." Dany said and Lily continued to stare.

"When did your boobs get that big?" Lily said bluntly and Dany covered her chest by crossing her arms self-consciously.

"Um, I don't know, somewhere between now and June apparently."

"Oh my god, you have a butt too. It's like puberty just ran you over like a freight train. Did this happen overnight or something?" Lily asked. Dany felt herself blush.

"Lily, this is embarrassing. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I look the same that I did three months ago. Can we start shopping and stop looking at my boobs?" Dany said. And they continued into Flourish and Blotts to get their schoolbooks. The two girls started looking around and soon Dany heard the whispers start. Damn. She looked around and people were staring at her. Everywhere she went was a circus these days. "Lils, come on over here." She said quickly and her friend walked over, now noticing the looks her friend was getting.

"Already?" Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Apparently. Well, we might as well make use of it…let's go get our books." She sighed and walked over to one of the people that worked in the shop. It was an older man that she vaguely recognized. "Excuse me?" She said softly and he looked up. He immediately looked at her and saw the trademark white hair.

"Miss Danilynn. It's always a privilege. How can we help you today?" He asked kindly and she smiled.

"My friend, Lily, and I need our books for our Fourth Year, please." She said and Lily smiled at him. The man shook her hand.

"It's lovely to meet you, Lily…Fourth Year you say? Yes, I do believe I saw your brother in here not a week ago purchasing his Seventh Year books. May I see one of your lists?" He asked and Dany handed him hers. "One moment, girls. Do you mind if I take this with me?" Dany shook her head.

"Not at all."

"I'll be back in a pinch." He said and quickly walked off. Lily watched him go.

"Well at least there's no wait. I should take you with me everywhere. I need to get something really quick from Madam Malkins? I'll bring Dany. I need something for Potions? I'll bring Dany." She joked and Dany laughed.

"Yeah, yeah go ahead and laugh; reap the benefits of my 'fame', Lillian." She said and bumped Lily's shoulder.

"I heard that sarcastic tone when you said fame. There's no sarcasm involved. Look around; you're famous." Lily said and Dany felt her stomach twist at the word famous.

"Yeah…it kind of sucks, doesn't it?" She said softly and Lily looked at her, clearly surprised. Before her friend could respond, the man returned with a giant stack of books. "Here, there's no way one person can carry all of those." She said, taking half of the books off his hands.

"Oh, thank you ma'am but I can carry them." He said, obviously struggling with only half of the books.

"No, really I insist." She said and he nodded.

"Well thank you greatly; I'm afraid I'm getting old, I must admit… and I must say, judging by the number of books you need, Professor McGonagall is certainly making the curriculum more rigorous." He said as Dany adjusted her grip on the books.

"That's fantastic. I'm really looking forward to _extra_ work, aren't you Lils?" Dany said and Lily laughed. The man chuckled too.

"Why don't we ring these up?" He said and the two girls followed him towards the register. Dany placed the books she was carrying on the counter and he did the same. "Now let's see…one set of these books adds up to 20 galleons, 6 sickles, and 2 knuts." Dany raised her eyebrows and looked at Lily. Prices had apparently taken an upturn in the last year. Their books had been much less expensive last year. "I know what you're thinking but books have become harder to get…due to the state of things." He said and both girls nodded.

"We totally understand." Lily said and smiled, "No one can control the actions of a lunatic." The man nodded.

"All too true, Miss Lily. Well, I do believe that we can make an exception for the Minister's family and their friends in terms of price…I'll give you both half-price, as long as you don't tell anybody." He said quickly and they both were shocked.

"Are you sure?" Dany said and he nodded.

"All your family does for us, it's the least we can do for you. So that'll be 10 galleons, 3 sickles, and a knut from each of you." The girls dug out the money and handed it to him. "Oh, and you wouldn't want to forget your list, Miss Danilynn." He said, handing it to her.

"Thank you very much. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Dany said and he smiled.

"Zachary. My name's Zachary." He said and she smiled at him.

"You're a good person Zachary. If there more like you, the world would be a much better place." She said and he hugged her.

"Bless you and yours, child. My thoughts and hopes are with your family. Bless you." He said before releasing her. She saw Lily look mildly amazed. The two girls left the store with their bags.

"I'm officially bringing you _everywhere_. No wait time _and_ half-price. You're a coupon on legs, Dany Masters." Lily said with a laugh. Dany heard her but didn't respond. She had just accidentally made eye contact with a very familiar pair of grey eyes. Except it wasn't Sirius, and it wasn't his dad either.

* * *

Lily looked at Dany, expecting some smartass comment after calling her a coupon but received nothing. She followed the girl's line of sight and saw her looking at a man that was about ten feet away from them.

"Dany…do you know him?" Lily asked and she shook her head.

"No. But Lils, he has Sirius' eyes." She said and Lily shook her head to herself.

"Dan, you have a crush on Sirius, you're probably just seeing what you want to. He's not Sirius and he's not Orion. I've had the pleasure of meeting both and that guy is neither. Let's go before he comes over." She tried to pull her friend away but Dany continued to resist.

"I know he's not Sirius or Orion but I'm telling you that he has his eyes." Dany said, still staring at the guy. "Just look, Lily. Take a good look then tell me I'm wrong again." Lily rolled her eyes but turned her attention to the guy. Sure enough, her friend was right.

"Holy shit." She said and Dany nodded.

"Told you."

"Who do you think he is?" Lily asked, both girls now staring at him from under the sign for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"A relative maybe? He looks awfully nice to be a Death Eater though…" Dany said and Lily agreed. He didn't look like he had ill intentions; he actually looked quite cheery.

"Yeah, he does…crap he's coming over. This is your fault, Danilynn. You started staring first." Lily hissed and both girls looked away quickly.

"Hello, girls." The man said, sounding amused. Lily couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. He even _sounded_ like Sirius. Both girls looked up at him. Lily noticed that he had the same mischievous, up-turned smirk that Sirius did too.

"Hi…can we help you?" Lily asked.

"No, but it's rather hard not to come over when the Minister's daughter and her friend are staring at you for a good couple of minutes." He said and they both nodded.

"Sorry…you just reminded us of someone we know. Our mistake." Dany said and looked like she was going to back away until he started laughing.

"Ah, Danilynn Masters…you don't seem to be everything that he talks you up to be. I'm assuming you're Lily Evans?" He said and Lily felt her jaw drop. She saw Dany was shocked, but controlled herself better.

"I'm sorry, but do we know each other?" She said and Lily saw her hand slide to her back pocket, where her wand was stowed.

"No, we don't. I've never actually met anyone from your family in person." He said cheerily.

"Man, not to be rude but if you don't tell me what your name is and who you are in the next five seconds, I'm screaming 'kidnap'." Dany said, looking like she wasn't joking. Lily supposed that something that had happened this summer had set her teeth on edge. The man laughed.

"I also heard that you were better than screaming 'kidnap'." He said. "I think I've used my five seconds, but my name's—" Suddenly her friend's face lit up and her body language relaxed, her hand moving away from her wand. Lily didn't know how smart that was, given that they had no idea who this guy was.

"Alphard Black." Dany said suddenly and Lily momentarily considered that her friend might have lost her mind sometime between June and now.

"Clever girl. What gave it away?" He said, eyes glittering. He reminded Lily of Sirius when he was receiving a month's worth of detention.

"Well, first of all you have 'my last name is Black' written all over you; it's the hair and the height and the smirk and well, everything. Second of all, you don't look like you're here to kill me. If you're trying to pretend that you're not related to your nephew, I'd think about changing your face. You have kind eyes." Dany said and Lily thought that the last part was strange.

"Dan…Why are we talking to one of Sirius' relatives? You're not exactly the Blacks' biggest fan. Last I heard you and James were fighting over who got to wrap their hands around Walburga Black's neck first." Lily said questioningly. Alphard laughed.

"I see you're a girl after my own heart." He said and Dany didn't seem the least bit concerned. "You've heard about me." She nodded.

"You're Sirius' uncle." She said. "You're not a raving blood supremacist." She said and Lily raised her eyebrows.

"There's more than one _good_ Black? Did I miss the memo?" She said and Alphard laughed again.

"It wasn't a widely distributed memo, Lils." Dany said with a smile.

"You might never have heard of me, but I've heard about you, Lily Evans." He said and Lily inspected him closely.

"Oh yeah? Heard what?" She said and she saw Dany smile.

"Nothing too personal, just that James Potter's got it bad for you and your this one's" he indicated Dany, "best friend. And that you're a ginger." He said with a smile.

"I'm a redhead." Lily said automatically and then felt like an idiot for saying that to someone she hardly knew. He laughed.

"He said you'd say that too…not to be weird or anything but people are starting to stare so how about we take this party into the building?" He said and sure enough, people were starting to stare. Dany nodded and they walked into the Ice Cream Parlour. Florean greeted them; well, he greeted Dany and Lily.

"Miss Danilynn! And Miss Lily! A pleasure as always, you two. Pick a seat, anywhere please." He said merrily as they sat down.

"I see you two are popular here." Alphard said dryly. Dany shrugged, apparently undisturbed by Sirius' uncle's sudden appearance.

"It's not like we can do much else for fun."

"It's a sign of the times, I do suppose." He said and Lily noticed that he looked like everyone else did when they talked about the war; he looked rather sad and very worried. Florean brought them drinks and they all thanked him before he walked away.

"So, to change the subject to something far cheerier; how do you know so much about us?" Lily said keenly. He laughed.

"I see my nephew at those horrid family get-togethers that we're both forced to attend and we talk; he talks about his friends, I talk about how the war's going, not like he can get news from anywhere else during summer." He said with a shrug. "So what's this I hear about you wanting to strangle my sister?" He said and Dany accidentally snorted her drink up her nose at the word 'sister'.

"She's your sister?" Dany coughed out. "Shit, I'm sorry that you have a hag for a sister." She said and he laughed.

"That sentence didn't end the way I thought it was going to. And I have to admit that I'm rather sorry that I have a hag for a sister too." He said sadly. Lily had to nod in agreement; she had nowhere near the depth of knowledge that Dany did in regards as to what happened in the Black household but she knew it was nothing good.

"So, if you don't know much about me, what do you know about her?" Lily asked, pointing to her friend.

"Lily, I don't know if I want to know that…that feels a little invasive." Dany protested. She was ignored.

"About her? Much more than you. Sorry, dear." He said to Lily.

"It's okay, I forgive you." Lily said. She was actually quite relieved that he knew minimal information about her.

"Well, let's see…Dany Masters. James' Godsister, your brother's…three years older than you, Lily's your best friend, and you take after your father." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow. Lily agreed with that reaction; that evaluation was cursory at best.

"Not very impressive. No offense, it's not your fault that Sirius doesn't say much about me." She said and grinned. He laughed and looked highly amused.

"I didn't say I was done, did I?"

"I suppose not…why? What else has he told you?" She asked, curious. Judging by the look on his face, Lily guessed that he knew _a lot_ about her. Sure enough, Sirius' uncle started up a list that became more and more lengthy by the second.

"Up until last year, you hid your hair color, turning it brown. You're competent at healing and you can't pass charms to save your life. You call your dad 'Daddy' even though you started calling your mom 'Mom' when you were nine. Um, your brother wakes you up in the morning with cold water to the face. Your dad used to sing to you when you were a little girl and you play piano. Dorea and Charlie Potter are your Godparents and your father cried when you were born. You have an enormous capacity for compassion and forgiveness and even redemption, which is a rare quality might I add. You hate the scrutiny that your family's under all the time and sometimes you wish that you were all a bunch of nobodies with no responsibilities. You'd never ask a guy out because your family doesn't believe in that and your parents married at nineteen. Oh, and all of my nephew's girlfriends hate you and you have absolutely no idea why. You're a remarkable girl, Danilynn Charlotte." He finished and Dany's mouth was hanging open. Lily hadn't known half of that.

"Dany…is that all true?" Lily said slowly.

"Sirius has a big mouth." Was all Dany said. His uncle shook his head. Lily felt her own mouth open. Apparently Sirius wasn't the only one that had a habit of talking; her best friend had been spilling to him in a major way.

"He actually doesn't. I do believe that I'm the only person he's ever told any of that to…and I must say, even after all of that being said, I can't believe he failed to mention your inherently trusting nature."

"I wouldn't say that." Dany said, but Lily disagreed. She had been willing to trust Sirius, someone they all had been slightly afraid of in First Year, without batting an eyelash.

"I would. You didn't know who I was; I could have been an axe murderer for all you knew, but you saw a set of eyes that you recognized and you automatically trusted me. Either you're naturally trusting or my nephew has done something drastic enough that you now automatically trust someone who even reminds you of him." Alphard replied and Dany raised an eyebrow. He had her there. Lily wondered which one of those was the truth.

"Alright, that's all very enlightening. But there has to be something else, something that isn't just fact." Lily said and Dany looked at her sharply.

"Lily. Enough." Dany said and Lily heard the warning but ignored it; unlike the rest of the Wizarding World, she didn't fear the wrath of the Masters temper.

"Seriously Dan? You're not even a little curious?" Lily asked her and Dany shook her head.

"Of course I am, but that's invasive. We shouldn't know that, we shouldn't know any of this as it is and you're well aware of that." Dany argued and Lily knew she was right but she _had_ to know if Sirius had fessed up that he was in love.

"Alright, well he didn't say anything about either of our personalities, just a lot about the past." Lily said and turned her attention to the older man.

"Just so you know, I'm not outing him on anything that I think is important. I will, however, indulge your friend, Danilynn." He said and Dany rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"What the hell? Start with Lily." She said with a hand wave.

"Okay. Nice girl, pretty girl; you have a temper but your bark is way bigger than your bite. Everyone thinks you're actually destined to marry James, just by the way. Smart, you're at the top of your class and that's exactly where you want to be; not because of the status but because you want to be the best you can be. You're tenacious but still flexible. You worry easy and tend to nurture your friends. You're the mother hen in your group of friends aren't you?" Lily nodded. "I thought so. Is that good enough for you?" Alphard asked her dryly and she nodded, actually quite flattered by the description that he had given her. That further fueled her curiosity as to what exactly Sirius thought about his best girl friend.

"Alright, lay it on me." Dany said and looked like she didn't know how she was going to like what was going to come out of his mouth.

"You're a strong girl, resilient. You can handle yourself and you've got a mouth on you. Unlike your friend here, your bark isn't nearly as big as your bite. But despite that, you still believe in and hope to marry for love, because somewhere in you, there's still a little girl that doesn't want to grow up. You're clever, not as studious as Lily, but smart and competent in a pinch. You're a funny girl, and I must say I agree with that, and you never stay down for long. At a certain level, you reject the lot you were born with and to some degree you don't really care what your family thinks. But you have low self-esteem, don't you? You don't see what everyone else does. You don't have the ego of your brother and ask for help if you need it, you're humble and have a kind heart that can't help but try to fix other people and their problems. But you're stubborn and willful and change doesn't come easily to you. And you're scared, about the war, about your family, about what's going to happen if something happens to them too soon, about just about everything. You're afraid of the responsibility of this war being thrown onto you because you feel like everything rests on your shoulders sometimes but you refuse to let anyone help you carry the weight of that." He said and Lily raised her eyebrows. That was an intimate description of her friend, who looked uncomfortable with all of her thoughts and feelings being said out loud.

"Well I see you've talked to Sirius recently." She said and he nodded.

"Last week. He's a good kid and he doesn't deserve the lot he was given. This break has been very hard on him. I know you return to school next week, and I thought I should let you know in advance. He may not look it, but he needs help, help that I can't give; he needs someone who's willing to pick up the pieces and put him back together." Alphard said and the girls exchanged worried glances. Lily knew that Dany would be losing a lot of sleep over that from now until September first. "I also thought I should tell you that I'll be seeing him again tomorrow, so if there's anything you want to write or say…" He said and Dany rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a Muggle pen. She wrote something on a napkin and handed it to him.

"Give him this." She said.

"Tell him that we all wish he wasn't there, with them." Lily said softly and the man nodded.

"I will. I best be going; I was only supposed to get one thing and then leave." He stood and just before he left he turned around. "And by the way, Miss Danilynn, I barely scratched the surface." He said before vanishing out the door, reentering the masses of people.

"Lily. What the hell was that?" Dany said.

"This is what happens when you stare at people on the street, Danilynn. This is what happens." Lily sighed.

* * *

The only upside of all of these damn parties was that his parents didn't have free reign to smack him into the ground. Having a bruised heir wasn't exactly…respectable, after all. He stared at his dress robes in the mirror hatefully and there was a knock at the door. He closed his eyes and hoped it was just Kreacher. The door opened and it was someone who he was actually glad to see.

"Uncle Alphard. I see you're early." Sirius said and his uncle smiled. Sirius had always felt like a younger carbon copy of his uncle.

"I know, I'm constantly changing things up; it keeps my sister on her toes. Her face when she opened the door was worth showing up early for. Forcing her to pretend that she can stand me is one of the funniest things ever…it makes her look constipated." Alphard said and Sirius laughed.

"Does she know you're up here?"

"Of course she does. Not like she could stop me anyways; it would be unbecoming of her to deny me the right to see my nephew, no matter how much she doesn't like it." Alphard said and Sirius rolled his eyes. Family members had often said that Sirius and his uncle had more in common than their looks; they both loved antagonizing Walburga in anyway possible. "Now, what's this I hear about you sneaking out of your room to hide dungbombs all about the house?" His uncle said with a laugh.

"Oh, it's exactly what it sounds like. And in case you were wondering, they didn't find them in time to keep the three in their room from going off." Sirius remarked and the other man laughed.

"Oh, ouch. I'm sure that went over great." He said and Sirius rolled his shoulder absently. Alphard saw him do it and looked unimpressed. "Now they're dislocating things?" Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, you haven't lived until you've reset your own shoulder…damn I'll be glad to get back to Hogwarts soon. I'm sick of having the shit kicked out of me almost everyday."

"Hopefully you won't have anymore battle wounds on the train. I don't think your friend would have a problem fixing them again but I'm sure she'd be less than enthused that they're there at all, judging by the fact that she inherently worries about you. But then again, I'm sure you _want_ her to feel you all over so that wouldn't be a great burden for you, would it?" His uncle laughed and while Sirius ignored the teasing joke, he didn't miss the fact he was talking about Dany, something he never brought up instead opting to wait for his nephew to mention her first.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, I'm assuming you know how babies are made; actually I _know_ you do. There's a lot of touching involved, which I'm sure you're also aware of."

"Alphard."

"Okay, okay. I ran into a couple of your friends in Diagon Alley yesterday. They send their well-wishes and thoughts." He said and Sirius looked at him sharply.

"Who did you run into?" He asked, more seriously now.

"You know I'm starting to wonder if you _actually_ have been with all of those girls…you don't seem to know much about the process. Or care very much about talking about it." His uncle said absently.

"Who did you see?" Sirius asked.

"Fine, fine. So serious. I ran into your good friends Danilynn Masters and Lily Evans. By the way, your white-haired friend trusts you quite a lot; she wasn't afraid of me at all. She said it was because I had 'kind eyes'." He said and Sirius felt his stomach give an uncomfortable lurch.

"What?"

"I asked her how she knew who I was, I mean she guessed my name on her own. She said that I looked like I was a Black and I didn't look like I wanted to kill her. Then she told me to change my face if I wanted to pretend that we weren't related. And she said right after that I have kind eyes. That's it." His uncle shrugged.

"What does that have to do with me?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

"I walked up to her in the middle of the street and she didn't look thrilled but also not terrified; Lily was definitely scared though. She just kept staring at me and once she figured out who I was, she just completely trusted me. I probably could have gotten her to walk off with me if I had tried. Not that I would, but still. She trusted me and I'd put money down it was because I reminded her of you. Maybe it was that stunt you pulled by staying in the hospital with her or maybe it was something else but whatever it is, it made quite the impression. You wouldn't be willing to say what exactly she was doing in the hospital would you?"

"No way. I'm taking that with me to the grave." He said quickly and Alphard looked amused.

"I figured as much but it was worth a shot. Does she know about how your mother treats you—?"

"She knows that things aren't exactly dandy over here and that the basement occasionally doubles as my bedroom…other than that she doesn't. And she isn't ever going to know anything beyond that." Sirius said harshly and Alphard said nothing in response to that. "What did you say to them?" He said and the older man shrugged.

"Not much. But I see what you're saying about her, she's a good person. Smart too; she thinks on her feet. She's a beautiful girl." Alphard said and Sirius quite agreed with that. "She looks different from any of the pictures you have of her though. She looks…older. Less like a kid." He said and Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"Oh ew, you do realize she's like fourteen right?"

"Ugh no, gross. But all I'm saying is that you have good taste. She's a beautiful, smart, brave, kind, funny girl who happens to care a great deal about you. So _why_ aren't you trying to ask her out every chance you get? She's everything you really want and need; the fact her mere existence pisses my sister off should just be a bonus. " His uncle asked him.

"What's the point? You know just as well as I do that nothing would ever come of it…she's the Minister's daughter; she's nothing like me, she's too…too good for the kid of Death Eaters. She'd never feel the same way. The Minister's daughter will never feel anything but friendship for a boy that's supposed to be the Black heir, and that itself is a miracle. Besides, I don't deserve her, not really." Sirius sighed and his uncle looked like he wanted to smack him. That was what differentiated his uncle from the rest of his family; he didn't _actually_ hit him, he just looked like he wanted to whack him over the head for missing the point.

"Do you hear yourself? The minute you don't think you deserve someone is the minute you do. You're a fool and your being pigheaded on this. You love her and she obviously cares for you. And instead of actually doing something about it, you keep on dating girls who have nothing between their ears except for a head full of perfume and air. You're going to lose her if you don't do _something_ Sirius, mark my words. She isn't a little girl anymore and other boys are going to notice. Do something before someone else does. And someone _will_ do something sooner rather than later. She's too pretty to be ignored by the boys at school for much longer." He said before he started to the door. He was almost out before he paused and handed him something. "I almost forgot; Lily said to say that she wishes that you didn't have to be here and your _beautiful_ and _caring_ friend said to give you this; no idea what it says, I didn't read it." He said before closing the door behind him. Sirius looked down at what Alphard had handed him. It was a napkin. He unfolded it and there was a simple message in it.

 _Come back safe. Love, Dany_

He put it on his bed and walked out of his room to the party his mother had been obligated to host this fine summer night. By the time he made it downstairs, there were people everywhere and it was abundantly clear that Alphard hadn't been the only one to show up early. He started wandering through the masses of his relatives and wondered if anyone would notice if he got drunk. Considering he got loud and obnoxious when he got drunk, probably.

"Sirius?" A voice said behind him and turned to see dark hair, fair skin, and warm eyes.

"Andromeda. It's good to see you." He said and he really meant it; Andy was a nice girl, sixteen or so and was currently carrying on a secret relationship with Muggleborn Ted Tonks. Sirius had never been prouder of one of his relatives than when she had told him that almost a year ago. They hugged briefly and then drifted over to a corner to talk, out of the way of their relatives.

"So, how has summer been? Did you get to go see James?" She asked and Sirius shook his head.

"Yeah, I mean I got permission to except I…got sidetracked by another of my friends and had to cancel with him." He said, skirting around giving her the complete answer. She seemed genuinely disappointed.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I know how you look forward to that every year…which friend was it?" She asked and just then Alphard walked over. Sirius was less than thrilled with that.

"Oh, he hasn't told you? Should you tell her or can I?" He said and Sirius waved a hand; he was getting sick of telling everyone the same half-truth over and over. "See, Sirius here was all set to go to James' when he got a panicked letter from none other than Dany Masters; said that she was at the hospital. So instead of enjoying himself at James', he went to the hospital, for completely unknown reasons that he refuses to tell anyone. Did I miss anything?" His uncle said and Andy looked intrigued.

"Dany Masters? The Minister's daughter?" She asked. Sirius nodded. "I knew you were friends but I didn't know you were that close." She said and Sirius shrugged.

"No offense but I kind of keep that…quiet at home. My delightful parents would love a living, bleeding person that could cough up the Masters' family secrets; which is something that I have no intention of ever doing, just by the way."

"How much do you know if you could give them something worthwhile?" She asked disbelievingly. Sirius considered that question for a minute. Most of the time, he felt like a mildly informed, half-familiar person around the Masters. But then he realized that that was far more than most people know about the Minister and his family.

"Enough." He said and decided that he wouldn't be elaborating any further than that.

"He forgot to mention that he's in love with her." Alphard said suddenly and Sirius put a hand over his own face. Fuck.

"What?" Andy said, looking like she was quite certain that she had heard wrong.

"It's true…he's got it bad too, by the look of things." His uncle said and Andy looked excited by this.

"Really? That's so cute! I've seen you two at school and I have to admit, you would look good with her. I mean you're like fourteen but still." She said thoughtfully and Sirius rolled his eyes and covered his face with a hand.

"Oh my God." He said to no one in particular.

"I know, but he's in the 'she's too good for me' phase." Alphard said and Andy smiled knowingly.

"You weren't joking when you said he's got it bad. I was already dating Ted," her voice dropped to a whisper at his name momentarily, "before he went through that, but don't worry he got over that quickly…not like you'd know anything about that, eh Uncle?" She said referencing the fact that Alphard was a proud bachelor.

"I just haven't found anyone that's made me change my mind on kids and a family is all. If I came across a woman that made me want to settle down, I'd put a ring on her." He said with a shrug.

"How's Ted, Andy?" Sirius said suddenly, changing the subject.

"He's good, last I saw him. He gets really worried when I'm home though…living with Bella and Cissy isn't what I'd call good for the psyche." She said and Sirius sympathized with that greatly.

"Hey, you only got a year or so left, you can do it." Sirius said and she looked rather hopeful at that encouragement.

"Yeah…I guess I do. Huh, I never really thought about that; I never could really see the light at the end of this tunnel. It's refreshing to know that it's not forever." She said thoughtfully and Sirius was rather jealous…he'd bloody kill to only have a year left living with his parents. She looked at him as if she was reading his mind. "Don't worry Sirius, you'll make it. It comes faster than you think."

* * *

James was a Fourth Year. He was officially a Fourth Year as soon as he walked onto the Hogwarts Express today. He passed through the barrier with his parents and immediately tried to pick out familiar faces. He saw a head of auburn hair and walked towards it, bidding his parents farewell. Lily was with her family. Her parents he recognized from last New Years and a girl she assumed was her sister was standing next to them, looking like she wanted to vomit.

"Hey Lily, you haven't seen Dan, have you?" He said and she turned around to smile at him, her entire family directing their attention to him.

"Hello to you too, James. And no, I haven't…not since last week anyways. Have you?" She said and there was worry clear on her face; she must know about Daniel.

"Not since she…came home a few weeks ago. Has she talked to you about her…trip yet?" James said, trying to phrase that as delicately and vaguely as possible. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, she told me about it; I was rather glad when she got home though." She said and James nodded.

"Me too. Oh, I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Evans; it's nice to see you again." James said politely and they both smiled.

"You too James. I do believe you've grown since last December…this is our oldest daughter, Petunia." Mr. Evans said and gestured to the girl James had correctly identified as Lily's sister. He keenly looked at her ring finger and sure enough, Vernon had proposed. He was rather glad that he had put his money where he had on that.

"Hi Petunia, it's nice to meet you." He said, forcing himself to be polite, despite knowing how unpleasant she was to her sister from Dany's rants on the topic. Fortunately for his patience, Petunia said nothing and stalked off, saving him from having to make small talk with the rude girl. Lily smiled sadly as she watched her sister leave.

"Sorry about that." Mrs. Evans said awkwardly. James shrugged.

"No worries, I hear that I'm not everyone's cup of tea." He said and they smiled.

"I don't know about you James but I'd rather be someone's shot of firewhiskey than their cup of tea." An amused voice said from behind him and he turned to see Dany. She looked good; she looked healthy and like the summer had treated her well. Even though they were practically family, he had to admit that puberty had definitely done a job on her; she no longer looked like a little girl. Sirius was going to freak.

"Very true, Little Godsister. How are you?" He said and hugged her she hugged him back. "How's Daniel?" He whispered into her ear and she looked shocked.

"Good. I'm good. What about you? Sorry I fell off the face of the planet for a while, it's just—"

"Vacation, right? I went over to your place and no one was home…my parents told me where you were." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah, nothing like getting away for a few weeks, completely unannounced…Lils! How are you, girl?" She said and quickly moved her attention to her best friend. Lily said she was good and said something about Petunia waiting off the platform in a huff. Dany laughed and said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Evans before they left, bidding their daughter a good first semester. Once they left, Dany turned her attention to James. "Who told you?"

"I went to your house and no one was there…I saw you wrote to Sirius; your owl brought his response back to your house because I guess it didn't know where to go. I confronted my parents about it and they confirmed but didn't say anything except to say nothing to anyone." He said and she relaxed. "But seriously, how is he?" James asked.

"He's good…I mean there were a few rough weeks and we didn't know if he was ever going to wake up but once he did, he recovered really quick. He's been home for a few weeks and has been back at work." She said and James noticed how haunted her eyes immediately became as soon as she started talking about it. Lily looked surprised.

"Sirius? How come Sirius got to know before us?" She asked and Dany looked like she had been caught in a crime.

"Thanks James. You suck." She said.

"Sorry, I thought she knew."

"She knew what happened. I just…omitted that part." She said carefully. Lily started to tap her foot.

"Danilynn."

"Okay fine! So my mom comes busting into the room saying that we had to go to St. Mungo's like _now_ and I freaked. Alright? I knew James wouldn't be any use and you'd just throw me a pity party so I wrote him. It's not a crime to ask for help, you know." She said and James saw Lily's eyes narrow.

"You're bullshitting me…I know he cancelled with James and them, he was with you wasn't he?" Lily said and suddenly a voice spoke from behind her.

"Yes, Lily I was in the hospital with Dany and her family, is that what you want to hear?" Sirius said dryly and she looked surprised at his sudden appearance. She looked at Dany quickly and they both examined him thoroughly, looking for any extraneous damage. They apparently found none and said nothing. The four of them walked onto the train and started searching for a compartment before James said anything.

"You stayed? I thought that you just were there for like a day then went and hooked up with Kenzie or something." James said and Sirius shook his head and gave him a look that said 'later' as they sat down in a compartment in the middle of the train.

"Nah, I stayed a couple of days and then hid out in the Leaky Cauldron, enjoying my freedom and buying lots of ice cream." He said and Dany looked like this was all new to her and Lily easily bought the lie. He was a good liar and she was trusting.

"Oh, well you should know that your girlfriend's pissed that you cancelled last minute like that." James told him and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course she is, I knew she would be. What can I say? I had something else better to do than sit around with her all week." He said and James saw Dany's eyes soften and James was mildly offended that his house was considered boring until he realized that this was all a lie to pass off in front of Lily. He didn't know how much Lily knew and he wasn't about to spill the beans on Dany's personal life.

"Alright, I'm just letting you know before she rains fiery teen girl wrath down on your life." James said, putting his hands up and Sirius shrugged.

"She's not that bad; the worst she can do is dump me." He said and James agreed with that, even if the girls looked like they didn't.

"I don't know…I'd be careful if I were you. Girls exact revenge differently than you all do; it may take a week or it might take a year but if you get her pissed enough, she'll come back for vengeance." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"She's just crazy enough to make it pretty brutal too. Like tamper with your broom to break your arm or something." Dany said and Sirius looked mortified. "What? I'm not saying _I_ would do that but just be aware that you're dating a girl that's buckets of crazy. Trust us when we say you don't want to piss her off too badly. She's the jealous type and that could bite you in the ass down the road." She said and the train started to move. Lily nodded in agreement and then changed the conversation.

"So, in other news, Petunia and Vernon are engaged so I'd like to congratulate all four of us for betting correctly." She said and Dany cheered.

"You have to tell me all about them, Lils. I've been _dying_ to hear more." She said and leaned forward, elbows on her knees, excitedly.

"I'll fill you in later; besides we have an entire semester before I can get anymore to tell you so I'm only going to tell so many at a time." Lily laughed.

"Lillian, you're killing me with this. The Petunia/Vernon love saga is my vice; I have to know more!" She groaned and James and Sirius laughed; it was looking like a good year already.


	12. Bleed Until I Can't Breathe

_Hey guys! So I changed the name of the fic because I felt like it (seriously that's the only reason) and this is the next chapter!_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

You watch me bleed until I can't breathe  
Shaking, falling onto my knees  
And now that I'm without your kisses  
I'll be needing stitches  
Tripping over myself,  
Aching, begging you to come help  
And now that I'm without your kisses  
I'll be needing stitches

~ _Stitches_ , Shawn Mendes

* * *

Marlene and Alice were asleep but Lily sure as hell wasn't. Dany knew that because her curtains were open and she was staring at Dany.

"Come here." She whispered and Dany walked over and sat on the foot of the redhead's bed before she drew the curtains down and cast a silencing charm. "What the hell was Sirius talking about? He stayed with you in the hospital?" She said and Dany winced. Damn.

"Yeah…I wrote him and asked him if he could swing by for a little bit; I mean I was worried and I knew James wouldn't be much more than an emotional wreck and you…I didn't want you to worry and get you involved and I didn't want the pity, to be honest. Mom was beside herself and I couldn't handle that on my own. I didn't get anything in response, well I guess I did but it went to my house instead of St. Mungo's. But anyways, I had been in the hospital with Dad for…nine days? Nine days, I think when he showed up. I was so damn happy to see someone that wasn't Mom or my comatose dad that I bloody cried."

"You _cried_?" Lily asked, clearly surprised. Dany knew why; she knew that Lily had never seen her really and truly cry.

"Yes Lily, I cried. I did a lot of that this summer. Now do you want to hear the rest of this?" Lily nodded. "So he got there and I was a bleeding mess and my mom was barely functioning and I don't know, I guess he felt bad or something but he stayed."

"For a couple days? He said a couple of days right?" Lily asked and Dany hesitated. She didn't know how much of this Sirius wanted out in the open. But it was Lily; she could trust Lily with her life.

"No, he stayed all week, actually." Lily's mouth dropped open.

" _All week? He stayed at your dad's sickbed for a week?_ " She said and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not even sure how it happened…I mean he kind of just never left and it was amazing that he stayed, it really was. He was so nice about it and really helped me out." She said with a shrug and Lily looked like she had just been struck by lightning. "Lils…are you okay?" Dany asked her cautiously.

"I'm fine, but you do realize that that's incredible right? I mean the only way that could get more touching is if he let you cry into his shoulder." She said and Dany looked away guiltily before she could stop herself. "Holy shit. He let you cry on his shoulder." Dany nodded. "Well that adds an extra level of romance to a horrible situation." Lily said and Dany hit her with one of her pillows.

"Shut it, Lily. I was a mess. My mom had to tell him to practically drag me home so I could take a shower and change clothes." Dany said and then realized her mistake.

"He's been to your house? You two were in your house alone?" She said and Dany saw that bright, romantic, look on her friend's face. Shit.

"Yeah, I mean it was just for a night and he stayed in a guest room, it wasn't a huge deal." She said and then kicked herself again.

"He stayed the night? Holy shit I think I might cry this is so beautiful." Lily said and Dany hit her on the shoulder with a pillow again.

"Come on Lils, my dad almost dies and all you get is a love story out of it? I don't want to even tell you about the part when my dad woke up." Dany laughed and Lily looked terribly intrigued.

"No, I really think I do." She said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Maybe later. It's almost one in the morning Lils. Let's go to sleep." Dany yawned and Lily relented for now.

"Alright, go to bed you love struck girl, you. Sleep tight." Lily smiled and Dany walked back to her own bed. Before she drifted off to sleep she thought that Lily was either reading _way_ too much into what had happened in the hospital or she was just oblivious. Either way, she was way too tired to care.

"Dany? Dan? You there?" Lily was saying, shaking her shoulder. Dany looked at her and blinked a couple times; she was on the ground and Marlene was holding her arms back. Alice was standing near the bathroom, looking terrified.

"Yeah, I'm fine Lils. It's over." She said and Marlene let her up. Dany walked over to her bedside table and slammed the sketchbook shut before shoving the book back under her mattress without looking at what was on the page. It was a Saturday (September 1st was on a Friday this year) and everyone looked like they had just rolled out of bed. "I didn't wake you all up did I?" Marlene didn't say anything but Lily nodded.

"Yeah, sort of. It's okay though; I mean you can't control it. We're slowly but surely getting used to having the shit scared out of us." Lily said and Alice and Marlene both smiled and nodded.

"Sorry about that…it's been a rough summer and the visions are getting more frequent. Is there a particular reason you were holding me down, Marles?" She asked as everyone slowly started to relax. Marlene looked momentarily afraid.

"Dan, you don't remember a thing? You woke up and you were hysterical; you were screaming and crying and just saying nonsense. That's what woke us all up; Lils looked and said that you had already finished the drawing. I was holding you down because we were worried that you might hurt yourself." She said quietly and Dany's eyes widened.

"What? I—I don't remember any of that. I remember falling asleep and next thing I know, I'm on the ground, Lily's shaking my shoulder and Marlene's on top of me…what was I saying?" She asked and the other three girls exchanged dark looks.

"You were crying, absolutely sobbing, and you kept saying that you couldn't survive, you couldn't survive with him in there. Just over and over. You kept saying you wanted your husband back. And you repeated the word 'innocent' like a thousand times." Alice said. "You never said who you were talking about though, outside of the fact you're apparently married to the guy." Dany was shocked.

"What? I—I get married? What the hell?" She said and the other three girls exchange another look.

"Well what did you draw? That could help us figure it out." Lily said and Dany nodded before opening the book again and finding the most recent page. It was Dumbledore's office that much Dany was sure of. She recognized herself, just slightly older by maybe three or four years. Dumbledore was there and he was clearly not happy, looking incredibly sad. The Dany in the picture was mad, a rolled-up newspaper clenched in one of her hands, the other pointing at Dumbledore. She noticed that there was a wicked looking mark on her neck that vanished under the collar of her shirt. She noticed that she was crying, even though she was clearly yelling as well.

"Holy hell, you don't look that much older…apparently you tie the knot early." Marlene muttered and Dany had to agree. This version of her was no more than twenty, and that was being generous.

"Yeah…no kidding. I apparently find 'the one' pretty quick." She said absently. "Do you think that I bothered to actually write the headline in on that paper?" She asked suddenly and everyone looked at each other like that was a fantastic idea. Lily held it close to her face.

"I can read part of it, I mean it's rolled up so it's only partial…say's that someone's been 'sentenced to life for murders'." She said and then everyone's eyes widened.

"Holy shit, I marry a murderer?" Dany said faintly and sat down.

"But you kept saying innocent, maybe that's your own way of telling younger you that he's innocent; whoever he is." Alice said supportively and Dany flipped through the book until she reached the first page, the first vision. Her father had said it was Azkaban. She looked at the man and tried to recognize him. He was her husband, who ever he was. But for the life of her, she couldn't match a face to the back of the head.

"Yeah, maybe…I marry this guy, whoever he is. You're all sure that you don't know who this is?" She said and the girls looked at it again, this time much more interested than they were when it was supposedly just some random guy that Dany maybe knew.

"I don't know…he's just so skinny, even if we knew him now I doubt we'd recognize him from this far away." Lily said.

"Yeah, I got nothing; sorry Dan." Marlene said and passed it to Alice.

"It kind of looks like…never mind, he's a blonde. Yeah, me neither." She said and handed it back to Dany.

"Well my mystery man will continue to remain a mystery." Dany said and before she could put the book away, Alice piped up again.

"Maybe the guys know him? I mean they definitely come in contact with more of the guys around here than we do." She suggested and they all agreed with that. The four of them walked up the boys' staircase and knocked.

* * *

Frank opened the door and looked at them, curious. Lily was pretty sure that coming here was essentially a waste of time and she was pretty sure that Dany thought the same thing but they were humoring Alice and Marlene. Lily was hoping that maybe the boys would surprise her and actually know who was in the picture.

"Um, hi guys…how can we help you?" Frank said.

"Um, can we come in?" Dany said and Frank turned around to look around.

"Sure, everyone's decent for the most part." He said and the girls walked in.

"Seriously you guys, we've been back for a day and this place is already trashed." Lily said. There were candy wrappers everywhere and Quidditch gear and clothes were already in weird, potentially dangerous, places. Sirius looked around blearily at the sound of a female voice.

"It's not Kenzie is it? Tell her that I'm tired and want to sleep. I'll go see her later. In _her_ room, not mine." He said and put his head back down with a weird sound. The girls laughed.

"No, Black it's us. Please spare us the details of your sex habits too, while you're at it." Marlene said and he sat up, looking more interested now that he knew it wasn't his girlfriend here to harass him about something.

"What the hell? James, get up." He said and stumbled out of bed in his boxers to push his best friend onto the floor.

"Fuck you." James groaned.

"Get up man." Sirius said and Lily rolled her eyes.

"That's no way to get him up. I can't believe you haven't figured this one out yet." Dany laughed and walked over to where James continued to sleep on the floor. She leaned down and said loudly, "James, Lily's here." And he sat straight up, so fast his head collided with Dany's nose. She pulled back shocked at the pain and the crunching sound it made. "Fuck! James you just broke my fucking nose!" She yelled at him and James looked around like he had no idea what was happening, of course. Before anyone could react, Dany stumbled on someone's shoes and was headed for the floor until Sirius caught her by the arm and pulled her back up.

"Easy there, Dan. A broken nose is bad enough, the rest of your face doesn't have to go with it." He said gently and let go of her. She pulled her hand back from where she had automatically covered her nose and Lily could see even from here, it was covered in blood.

"Shit." She said and Lily inspected her face, looking at her now crooked nose.

"James Potter you bleeding moron. Look at what you did to her face!" Lily yelled at him, pissed that her best friend's nose was broken; for his part, James looked incredibly guilty.

"I am _so_ sorry, Dan." He said and Dany laughed and waved a hand.

"Please, like this is the first time I've suffered damage because you're a clumsy person? I'll live and I'll be back to normal as soon as Madam Pomfrey sets it." She said and Lily was surprised by the bit about Madam Pomfrey healing it.

"You can't fix it yourself?" She said and Dany shook her head, blood still dripping out of her nose.

"Nah, trying to heal yourself with magic is risky, it can lead to a lot of problems, especially if you say the end of the spell wrong because you're in pain. Someone else is going to have to fix it." Sirius said, interrupting for the first time since he had stopped Dany's face-plant; he looked rather worried about the blood still coming out of her nose. Dany prodded her nose experimentally.

"Yeah there's no way I could get the end of the spell out without fucking it up. It hurts too much." She said and Lily nodded.

"Not to point out the obvious or anything but shouldn't we get the blood to stop coming out?" Remus said, having woken up at the commotion. Everyone looked around and exchanged looks; no one knew how to stop a nosebleed.

"Alright, this is just depressing; no one else knows how to get that to stop? Wow, not very impressive…I wouldn't become Healers if I were you all." Sirius said, somewhat amused. Lily wondered how he knew. "Alright Dan, tilt your head back and pinch the bridge of your nose. Harder then that, you need to cut off the blood supply; don't make me do it because it won't be gentle or friendly. Okay now stay like that and put this under your nose to stop the blood from going everywhere; we don't need McGonagall thinking we've committed murder in here or something." Dany nodded and took the towel. "And maybe sit down, staying like that can make you kind of dizzy, especially with all the blood loss." She sat down on the nearest bed.

"Um, Sirius not to pry or anything, but how do you know that?" Marlene asked and he shrugged.

"I've had a lot of nosebleeds McKinnon and I've always had to stop them myself. Broken noses aren't any fun, believe me; give me a broken finger any day." He said absently and Marlene fell quiet at that. Lily found that quite disturbing and she felt like an idiot for not thinking about the fact he came from an abusive household. No shit he'd know how to keep someone alive long enough to get real medical attention. Not to mention the totally depressing fact that he had ranked broken body parts on levels of pain.

"Can I stop now?" Dany said a couple minutes later, sounding weird with her nose covered by the towel.

"Move your hand." He said and he looked at her nose. "Yeah, you should be done unless your blood's shitty at clotting, which wouldn't surprise me because you haven't been injured much throughout your life." He said and Lily saw her eyes soften for a minute and looked very much like she wanted to give him a hug, despite it was her with the injury and not him. The look vanished quickly and she slowly removed her hand. Sure enough, the bleeding had stopped.

"My hero." She said and removed the now blood-soaked towel from under her nose.

"Anytime. I can also put bones back into place, if you ever dislocate something." He said dryly.

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time I dislocate my shoulder…you wouldn't happen to be able to fix noses would you?" She said and he nodded. Lily found this whole thing disturbing; judging by the looks on everyone else's faces, they did too. Lily suspected she wasn't the only one with limited knowledge of the Black household in this room; she actually was pretty sure that no one knew the extent to which Sirius was used and abused in the room _except_ for Dany (and maybe James) and even then, Lily suspected he hid some of it from her.

"Yeah…this is going to hurt, but you know that… _episkey."_ He said and she yelped as her nose made a sickening crunch, her hand jumping to her nose, which she rubbed gingerly. It was back to its normal shape and she looked relieved that it wasn't hurting anymore.

"Thanks…ugh I can't even imagine what Pomfrey would have said if we had been back in there the second day of school. She might refuse to do anything about my nose she'd be so irritated." She said and Lily was glad that it had been remedied, in a relatively quick manner.

"So now that Dany has been injured _and_ fixed, we actually have a reason for coming in here." Lily said briskly and everyone looked at her. The girls all looked like they had quite forgotten their original purpose for barging in on the guys so early in the morning in the wake of Dany's nose. Marlene caught on first to her meaning.

"Yeah, so you boys wouldn't happen to recognize this guy, would you?" Marles said and handed them the book.

"Who is this?" James said as he examined it. "Is this Azkaban?" No one said anything. "I don't recognize him…actually I take that back; he's familiar but I can't put my finger on why." He said and handed it to Frank and Peter, both of whom had just come over after the bloody mess had been resolved.

"I don't know him…what about you Pete?" Frank said and Peter shook his head. "I mean I get this is one of those visions but why do you care so much about who he is? Shouldn't you know him already? Besides, I think you can wait to see, like the rest of us." He said and Lily agreed with that statement but said nothing.

"Because Dany's going to marry him." Alice blurted out.

"Alice!" Dany yelled and Al looked embarrassed.

"Sorry." She muttered and all of the guys' mouths fell open.

"You're getting married?" James said blankly and Dany threw her hands up. Lily had to admit that this sounded weird and couldn't blame James for freaking out at the thought of his fourteen-year-old Godsister getting hitched.

"See? Look what you did. No, James I'm not currently engaged, if that's what you mean. It's kind of a convoluted story, but yeah whoever that is, is who I marry and this lot is hell-bent of figuring out who it is." She said and James relaxed, glad that she wasn't currently engaged.

"So you _don't_ know who it is?" Alice pressed and Sirius inspected the picture and shook his head.

"I'd say it kind of looks like my dad but that's really insulting to you and there's no way he'd ever be that thin, Dementors or not." He said with a shrug and handed it to Remus. His face immediately lit up and Lily knew he knew who it was.

"Oh god none of you know who this is? Wow, I'm surprised…" He said.

"You _do_ know who it is?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, I know who it is, but I'm sure as hell not telling you, _any_ of you." He said and handed it back to Dany, who closed the book and wrapped her arms around it. "I'm not going to be the one who starts some self-fulfilling prophecy that sets off some long series of events. I will _not_ be held responsible for the future."

"Do I at least know the guy? You can at least tell me that." Dany said and Remus nodded.

"Yeah, you know him. That's all I'm saying." He said and Dany nodded.

"I get that…I guess we'll just have to see, huh?" She said and he nodded and laughed.

"Yes we will…we will indeed."

* * *

As soon as Dany had moved her hand off her face, it became very evident that she had a severely broken nose. There was blood just gushing out of her nose and Sirius saw that her hand was just covered in her own bright red blood. She had looked around like she wasn't sure how to stop it; as a matter of fact _no one_ knew how to stop it. Except for him. Except for the boy whose parents broke his nose almost constantly. Alphard was usually kind enough to set it whenever he saw his nephew. There was blood all over her face, smeared on her cheeks and dripping off her lips, like a twisted version of lipstick. He had really wanted to wipe it off her face but had decided that doing that would be weird.

As he told her what to do to get the blood to stop he let his mind wander a little too far; if his parents got their hands on her, this is what she'd look like except so much worse than a broken nose. A broken nose was getting off easy and they wouldn't let the Minister's daughter off easy, not when she could be used to torment their son. Then he'd be trying to fix her broken bones and hemorrhaging wounds; he could fix her nose but he didn't know if he, or anyone, would be able to pick her up and fix her if the word _crucio_ was ever said. Hell, he didn't know if he could make it through watching it happen, which is exactly what _would_ happen if his mother got her way. Dany would scream and cry and beg for mercy and they would make him watch the whole thing until one of them went insane.

"My hero." She had said wryly and he had laughed and brushed it off, making a joke to quickly move along the conversation so he could move his thoughts away from the girl in front of him crying at his mother's feet. Then Marlene had passed around the drawing, Alice accidentally saying that the guy was Dany's future husband. Weird. He looked kind of like he hadn't had a good meal in about five years and like he was rather depressed, judging by how he was sitting. Then Remus had started laughing and said he knew who it was. He refused to say, even after the girls had left.

The guys all went down to breakfast after they had managed to get the girls out of their room and changed out of their pajamas. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table and the girls had yet to make a reappearance. Sirius suspected that they were double-checking that all of the blood was off of Dany's face and were continuing to pour over the sketch.

"Come _on_ , Remus; we won't tell anybody! Just tell us!" James tried to coax him but the werewolf wasn't relenting.

"No, no I'm not saying anything so just give it up." He said and James looked infuriated, frustrated that he couldn't find out who he was supposed to be beating up and threatening in advance. Just as Remus refused James again, Kenzie finally had tracked him down and she didn't look happy.

"Sirius! It's so good to see you; I missed you over break." She said and she seemed bubbly but it was so obviously fake that everyone there could tell she was pissed.

"Hey, Kenzie it's good to see you. I missed you too." He responded and Sirius thought to himself about just how much of a lie that was. Suddenly, the girls decided to make and appearance and they all pointedly avoided sitting near Kenzie, Dany making an extra effort to sit on the opposite side of the table from her, on the other side of James. Kenzie didn't look happy to see them. Sirius noticed that Dany looked normal, as if her nose hadn't been broken less than an hour ago. As if her blood hadn't been dripping down her face in the middle of his room.

"I was so disappointed that you had to cancel last minute like that. What happened? James said you had another obligation." She asked and Lily and James froze for a second and Sirius saw Dany's eyes move towards him, even though she was continuing to eat her cereal.

"I'm really sorry about that…it's just my parents said it was okay but then something came up in the family and they said it wasn't okay. It was just a bad time is all; the last month of break is so filled with Pureblood shit that I can hardly stand it." He said absently, having come up with this lie to feed her long ago. James and Lily relaxed and Dany looked wary. She had told him on multiple occasions to be careful lying to Kenzie but so far he hadn't had a problem so her advice was currently being ignored.

"Oh, well that was just unfortunate timing I guess. We'll just have to make up for it then." She said and Sirius saw Lily choke on whatever she was eating; Dany gave her a couple good claps on the back.

"Yeah, sure…let's talk about it later. How was your break?" He asked and as soon as she started to talk, he zoned out and was only half-listening. She had apparently gone to Paris and it had been fantastic. James was talking to Remus and Marlene was chatting with Lily and Dany. Alice and Frank were also talking intimately, Sirius suspected that the girls were right about a relationship being on the horizon for those two; that was nice, they're good people, Sirius thought to himself. He still had no idea what Kenzie was saying to him.

A few hours later, Sirius was putting his pants back on and getting out of Kenzie's bed. As annoying and whiny as she was, she was a good shag, although she was kind of boring. Sirius thought that thinking that probably made him a bad person.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" She asked and he shook his head.

"Can't. I promised the guys that I'd spend some time with them; I haven't seen them since last year either." He responded and she looked rather put out by that. "I'll see you later." He said as he walked out of her room, the Fifth Year girls' room. He was walking down the stairs towards the common room when he ran into Dany and Lily both of whom wrinkled their noses.

"Ugh, gross Sirius. Please tell me that you were looking for us and not getting your rocks off on the floor above us." Dany said and Sirius said nothing and she rolled her eyes. "Of course you were. Go enjoy running away from your girlfriend." She said and the two girls walked into their room, talking about something or another, closing the door behind them. Before Lily closed the door he caught the name Brady Harris, which automatically meant nothing good.

Brady Harris was generally regarded as one of the hottest guys in Hogwarts by most girls and generally regarded as one of the biggest asshole players in the castle by most guys. A year older and Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Sirius knew him pretty well from being on the field with him. He could comfortably say that Brady Harris was possessive and a lunatic, judging by how he ran his team and how he and his friends talked to each other about everything from Quidditch to girls. He pushed the thought from his mind and finally got down to the common room, where James and Remus were waiting for him.

"Enjoy your time with Kenzie?" James laughed and Sirius shrugged.

"It was alright I guess…it's getting kind of boring to be honest." He said and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Well monogamy clearly isn't for you if you're _already_ bored, Sirius." The werewolf commented and they all three started to walk out of the common room, towards the lake.

"Yeah, I can't see that happening anytime soon…what do you guys know about Brady Harris?" He asked abruptly and both of his friends looked at him like he was crazy.

"About as much as you do, I'd reckon. Why?" James asked warily. No one trusted Sirius' random questions because they usually involved snowballing thoughts that ended up in some really dark places.

"When I was coming down from Kenzie's room, I passed Dany and Lily…before they closed their door, I heard them talking about him." He said and both of the other guys looked automatically exponentially more concerned. "Who's he dating right now?" He asked and James and Remus exchanged a look.

"Last I heard, he's single right now; dumped his last girl over the summer." Remus said cautiously and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think that one of them has a crush—?" Sirius started and James shook his head.

"No way. They both have standards way higher than Brady." James said but Remus didn't look convinced.

"I don't know guys. He can be pretty charming if he wants to and getting attention from a guy that's a year older…that might be enough to change one of their minds, is all I'm saying." He said and Sirius and James both glared at him, neither of them particularly caring for Remus suggesting that the girls they liked would go anywhere near Brady.

"There's no way. Besides, neither of them are his type." James said forcefully but Sirius was starting to see Remus' point.

"They're both pretty girls; they're both pretty girls who've never dated, to boot. They wouldn't know how being in a relationship is supposed to be like and that sounds just like him. I mean I'd like to see him try to take advantage of either of them; they'd eat him alive if he tried." Sirius said and James looked less than amused by this whole situation.

"Look guys, maybe we're just jumping to conclusions. Maybe it's nothing." James said and, conveniently, Marlene walked by. James grabbed her arm before she could go by. "Hey, Marlene." He said and she looked at him like she wasn't sure what he wanted.

"Hey James…can I help you?" She asked warily.

"Yeah, what do you think about Brady Harris?" He asked her and she looked surprised.

"He's alright…how honest do you want this to be?" She asked cautiously.

"Brutally." Sirius threw in and she nodded.

"Okay…well he's hot, he seems pretty normal I guess, I've never really talked to him though so I can't really comment on his personality beyond the fact that he seems like he isn't a serial killer. I'm not interested in him, if that's what you're asking; there'd be no point in it, honestly." She said with a shrug and then her eyes got very wide once she realized what she'd said.

"Why would there be no point in being interested, McKinnon?" Sirius asked and he got the impression that she was trying to think very quickly.

"Because he's a year older than me and it's not like guys are trying to pick up Fourth Years left, right, and center. There's no way he'd be interested in me, is all." She said and all three guys looked at her like they didn't believe her. "Well this has been fun I'm going to go now. Bye." She said and walked off, glancing back at them one time before rounding a corner towards Gryffindor Tower. They finally walked out onto the grounds and exchanged looks.

"She was telling the truth, for the most part…until the end. She was making up parts but she was definitely telling the truth when she said he wouldn't be interested in her, that's for sure." Remus observed and the other two found that disturbing.

"You don't think he's after one of them, do you? Dating a year younger than him isn't beyond him…he's actually done it before, I think." James asked and Sirius dearly wanted to tell him 'no' with certainty but he couldn't. He didn't even know if it would be worse if he went after Dany or Lily. He didn't particularly care to see Dany dating someone, let alone Brady, but James would be inconsolable if he were to get with Lily. This was a lose-lose situation if they were right.

* * *

James thought if he was being honest with himself, that if Brady were going to pursue either girl, it would be Dany. Lily was more beautiful to James and he knew people agreed with him, but Dany was much more Brady's speed; she wasn't bookish but still managed to pull good grades and she was exceptionally pretty, not to mention the immediate fame that came with being associated with her family in any way. He put his thoughts to rest on the subject temporarily as Quidditch season approached faster than he could have imagined.

Gryffindor's first game was in mid-October and they were playing Hufflepuff. Toby, their captain, was pretty confident that they would be sweeping and their seeker, Caroline, was under strict orders to catch the snitch as fast as humanly possible. Sirius had been given the delightful job of protecting their seeker, which was undoubtedly the most dangerous job someone could give a beater; no one had been particularly thrilled about that turn of events, Dany was almost less enthused than her Godbrother was about it. Kenzie continued to linger around, becoming more and more possessive of her boyfriend while simultaneously becoming more passive, it was leaving everyone confused as to what exactly was happening.

James pushed Sirius out of bed and he made a sound that didn't sound very nice.

"Get up you lazy ass, the game's today." James said as he walked into the bathroom to shower. He heard Sirius stand up and start digging around for his uniform. James brushed his teeth and wondered how crazy Kenzie would be today. Huh, that's a good name for her. Crazy Kenzie. He'd have to tell the others about that later, after the game. Right now, it was all about Quidditch until the game was over. James had to keep his head in the game and so did Sirius; he kept his girlfriends away on Quidditch days, claiming that he needed to "save energy" which was something that made James gag just thinking about.

He walked out of the bathroom just as Sirius was pulling his shirt on and there was a knock on the door. It wasn't one James recognized; Dany knocked softly and would usually call into the room, Lily usually just barged in because 99% of the time she went to their room was to yell at them because she was pissed, Marlene and Alice knocked like a thousand times a minute and none of the guys in Gryffindor bothered knocking. It sounded like whoever was knocking was smacking the palm of her hand on the door. Everyone exchanged looks and James opened the door to see Kenzie standing there. Remus, Peter, and Frank immediately cleared out and James dearly wished he could do the same but he still had to get dressed.

"Um, Kenzie. What are you—?" James started but she walked past him and Sirius looked alarmed. Poor guy. James grabbed his clothes and went to get dressed in the bathroom. He heard them talking through the door. It sounded like Kenzie wanted one of his old shirts and James shook his head. There would be a cold day in Hell before he gave up one of his old Quidditch shirts to a girl.

"Look Kenzie, I really think you're overreacting to this…I just like the shirts and want to keep them." He heard him say and James rolled his eyes as he changed pants. He heard a door slam seconds later. "You can come out James, she's gone." Sirius said dryly and James looked out into their room and sure enough, she was gone.

"All of that over a shirt?" James asked dryly. Sirius shrugged.

"Don't ask me about girls' fascination with wearing their boyfriend's shirts. Besides, if I gave her anything like that, I'm not getting it back." He said and James nodded in agreement as his best friend picked up his beater's bat. "Alright, let's go get some breakfast before she comes back." He said and James rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just dump her if you want to keep avoiding her?" He asked and Sirius didn't respond. "It's not like you're keeping her around for the sex because apparently that became boring like a month ago."

"I don't know…I guess I haven't gotten around to dumping her yet. We'll talk about it after the game." Sirius responded as the entered the Great Hall. James saw all four girls sitting around, dressed in Gryffindor shirts. Frank, Peter, and Remus were there too and they were dressed similarly to the girls. A few people stopped the two of them on their way to their seats to wish them good luck. They sat down and James sat down next to Lily, who seemed rather neutral to this as she spoke to Dany. Dany noticed that they had sat down and she grabbed James' attention.

"I want to make something abundantly clear to both of you; play a clean game and don't die. I think I've head my fill of sitting by people's sickbeds for the rest of my life." She said and James looked at their friends and apparently no one had heard except for Sirius, Lily, and himself. James nodded.

"You have my word, Sister. I promise not to die. Besides, I'm the one in the least danger out of the two of us." He said and Dany turned her gaze to Sirius who looked alarmed at this turn of events.

"Sirius Black don't you dare die because I'll be pissed and I'll bring you back just to kill you again." She said, pointing a finger at him. James glanced at Lily, who looked amused and simultaneously like she was trying not to look sappy.

"Hey, I'm planning on dying anytime soon. Don't look at me like that; I have no more desire to spend any more time in a hospital than you do. I've seen enough of white, sterile walls for a while." He said and Dany nodded and still didn't look convinced. She went back to her conversation with Lily that sounded like it consisted of whether or not Lily was in fact addicted to chocolate.

"I think it's a clinical condition, Lils. I'm kind of worried." Dany was saying but James turned his attention from his Godsister to the girl she was talking to. Lily was so beautiful and even though her red shirt made her look paler than she was and made her freckles stand out, she was still the most beautiful girl in the room, at least to him. Sirius caught his attention and smirked. James realized he'd been staring and he looked down at his food. Suddenly, Toby stood up from his seat.

"Team! Locker room, now!" He yelled and James and Sirius both stood up to leave. Their friends all wished them good luck and Dany hugged him quickly with a grin.

"Go kill 'em. Make Daddy Masters and Daddy Potter proud." She said and he laughed before high-fiving her. Their fathers had both been chasers when they had attended Hogwarts, some of the best that the school had seen in that generation.

"You got it. I'll be sure to do their legacies justice." He said and she laughed before he left with Sirius and the rest of the team. They entered the locker room and started talking before Toby started his traditional speech. James would be quite sad when he graduated; he didn't know if Quidditch would ever be the same without Toby's speeches.

"Alright, come on in guys—"

"And ladies. Don't forget the ladies, Tobias." Caroline scolded and he laughed along with the rest of the team.

"Ladies, too. So, this is the first game of the season and I can't say that I've ever been more confident in another team before. Caroline, you're a wicked fast seeker and I'm so bloody proud of how much you've grown since last year. James, Mary, and Mark you all work together so well and together, y'all have scored more goals than any other three chasers have in Gryffindor in over forty years. Maya, you're a great keeper and I have total faith in you and that you'll keep Hufflepuff at bay, just like you did last year with Slytherin for the Cup." He said and everyone cheered at the mention of Slytherin's defeat. "Sirius, you're my fellow beater and damn even though you're two years younger than me you're the best one we've had in a long fucking time, myself included."

"Thanks for keeping all of our faces intact." Caroline threw in and everyone nodded.

"Thanks guys, you're pretty great too, Toby." He said and Toby grinned.

"Well now that I've inflated all of your egos appropriately, let's go bloody demolish them!" He yelled and everyone cheered before they left for the field. They all stood under the stands, waiting for their signal to walk out. They finally got it and James looked around at the crowd and even from here, he thought he could see Dany's gleaming hair towards one of the goalposts. Madam Hooch gave them the okay to get up in the air to warm up and he flew over to see it was indeed Dany that he had seen leaning over the fence to keep students out of the field.

"You know I can see your hair from the field." James said and she grinned at him.

"What can I say? It's like a beacon. At least you'll always know where you are on the field because I'm pretty sure I'm due north right now." She joked and he chuckled as Sirius flew over. Lily was talking to Remus, who was standing next to her; James wondered what they were talking about right now.

"Oi, James stop running your mouth and start warming up." Sirius said and Dany stuck her tongue out.

"Shut it; we're having a conversation about Quidditch you know. I think that's allowed." She said and Sirius looked like he was going to protest until he heard Toby call his name.

"Whatever, I gotta go; captain's calling after all. See you out there Potter." He said and clapped James on the back. Dany smiled at him.

"You should probably go too. I don't want it to be my fault that we lose this game. Go on, get." She said and James flew off just as Madam Hooch blew her whistle, calling for the start of the game.

"Alright, I can't say I'm particularly worried about penalties with you two teams but still I want a nice, _clean_ game from all of you. We don't need a rerun on last year's final game." She said as she released the snitch and bludgers and eyed Toby, who looked unabashed for all the fouls he had committed against Slytherin in that game. "Here we go." She said and threw the quaffle up in the air. The game had started.

It was uneventful for a while, Gryffindor was up by seventy points, James was working in perfect sync with Mary and Mark and no one had seen the snitch yet. There were no injuries and there had been only one foul. It was a good game. He saw Sirius fly by next to Caroline a couple of times but other than that, he was completely focused on the game. They were up eighty points and still no snitch. Then there was a collective gasp and then Madam Hooch's whistle blew. All of the players looked around as they dropped towards the ground. Someone was injured. James found the problem; it was Maya, the keeper. She was cradling her right arm and looked like she was on the verge of tears. Damn she was probably out for the rest of the game. If Madam Pomfrey had to give medical attention, the player was out for the game. They all landed and she looked like she was in all kinds of pain.

"I can still play; I'm fine. It's just dislocated. I can keep going." She insisted by everyone shook their heads.

"Maya, you can't play with an arm like that; I can't let you." Toby said and she shook her head.

"I _have_ to keep playing. Please, Toby let me play." She pleaded and James glanced at Sirius who looked like he was on the verge of saying something.

"You're sure it's just dislocated, Maya?" Sirius suddenly said and she nodded.

"About 95% sure that's the problem. Why?" She said.

"I can put it back into place if that's what you want, Maya." He said and James raised his eyebrows. He suddenly remembered him joking about that after he had fixed Dany's nose.

"Gryffindor, thirty seconds!" Madam Hooch yelled. Toby waved at her.

"Seriously?" She asked and he nodded. "Do it." She said and Toby looked like he was going to protest but closed his mouth under his keeper's silencing glare.

"Alright, come here. It's going to hurt like a bitch so please keep that in mind…on three. One…two…" Snap. He suddenly moved his hands and she groaned in pain and started to move her shoulder around. She nodded as if to confirm that her shoulder was no longer out of its socket.

"It's fine, I'm fine, let's go. Thanks Sirius." She said and he nodded.

"Gryffindor, up in the air now or you forfeit!" Madam Hooch yelled at them. And Toby nodded.

"We're going!" He yelled back and looked to his team. "Sirius, you're a hero; Maya, you're a trooper and a beautiful person. Let's go." He said and they all kicked off. The game resumed and not fifteen minutes later, Caroline caught the snitch. They had started the Quidditch off right. It was looking like a good season for Gryffindor.


	13. She's Kinda Hot

_Disclaimer: not mine :(_

 _Hey! I'm back and so are all of our favorite characters!_

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 _Love, Essie_

* * *

My girlfriend's bitchin' 'cause I always sleep in  
She's always screamin' when she's calling her friend  
She's kinda hot though  
Yeah, she's kinda hot though

My shrink is telling me I got crazy dreams  
She's also saying I got low self-esteem  
She's kinda hot though  
Yeah, she's kinda hot though

She put me on meds, she won't get out of my head  
She's kinda hot though

~ _She's Kinda Hot_ , 5 Seconds of Summer

* * *

Dany was watching the game with interest when she had seen the hit Third year Maya had taken to her shoulder. She had heard Lily gasp next to her and had felt her grab her hand.

"That poor girl, she's probably out for the game. She'll be so disappointed, she loves Quidditch; I help her with Ancient Runes sometimes and it's all she talks about." Remus remarked and Dany nodded.

"It's probably dislocated at the least, if it's not broken." Dany said and they all watched the team talk down on the ground. Maya seemed to be arguing with Toby, the captain, and Dany saw Sirius intervene for a second. "What's he doing?" Dany asked her redheaded friend. Lily looked over to where Sirius had his hands on Maya's injured shoulder. Suddenly, an unmistakable look of pain crossed her face but then she nodded and Toby clapped Sirius on the shoulder before they all got back in the air.

"Did he just set her shoulder on the sidelines? Can he even do that?" Lily asked disbelievingly and Remus shrugged.

"I think so, just as long as Madam Pomfrey doesn't have to get involved, she can keep going. Sirius is a lot of things and the hospital matron isn't one of them." Remus said and the girls nodded absently, now intently watching the game and hoping for no more injuries. The game ended soon after and all four girls relaxed, reassured that there had been no more injuries. Dany, Lily, Marlene, Alice, Remus, Frank, and Peter all started walking up to the castle and were happily talking about the upcoming party. There was _always_ a party after a game. If they won it was called a celebration and if they lost it was called going down in a blaze of glory; either way, there was always a party of some sorts.

"Alright, you boys have gotta own up, who gets the booze from Hogsmeade? I know you know who it is." Alice was saying and Dany was listening, interested in the answer but more concerned about Kenzie, who was walking in front of them by a good ten or twenty feet and was angrily talking about something to her friends. Dany nudged the girls.

"Sorry to interrupt but does that look really bad to anyone else?" She said and they all looked at where Kenzie was bitching about something or another.

"Yeah that's bad news…I think we'll go find Sirius and give him a heads up that his girlfriend's pissed off; I mean she's always pissed off but this looks bad. See you girls up there." Remus said and the three guys broke away to find their Quidditch playing friends. The four girls continued to walk towards the castle, trying to catch what Kenzie was mad about.

"Can any of you hear what she's saying? I've got nothing." Marlene asked and the other three shook their heads; she was just out of earshot.

"Hold on, I think she just said something about an aunt or something…maybe its just some family drama that she's talking about." Lily said with a shrug and the other girls didn't have anything better than that as far as guesses went. They entered the castle and conversation turned back to the party.

"I don't care what you think but I'm telling you that Sirius and James are somehow involved with getting the booze into the tower." Alice said and Dany had to admit that it sounded very much like something they would be more than happy to take part in.

"No, I'm in agreement with that. If anyone likes breaking the rules, it's them." Lily said and everyone came to a consensus on that just as a pair of hands grabbed Dany from behind. She automatically screamed, loud enough for people to look back at her. She turned around and saw it was just James who had grabbed her; he was with the other four guys and he and Sirius both looked exceptionally sweaty and happy.

"Thanks James, just give me a heart attack next time and get it over with." She said.

"Damn, Dan. I didn't realize that you were so jumpy." He laughed and she shoved his arm.

"Yes you did; you've been doing that to me since forever. It's cruel of you to do that, play on my lifetime of being told that people would really like to abduct me. You know as well as I do that I've been hearing that practically since the womb. I think when my dad talked to my mom's stomach when she was pregnant he would say that. Funnily enough, I've never actually been held hostage." She joked and James, Remus, Peter, and Frank all chuckled but she noticed that Sirius' smiled slipped a little into a more concerned look, before anyone else could notice the look vanished and he was back to being excited over the win.

"Alright, maybe I did know that, but it's still fun. Besides, we gave you what you wanted, didn't we? We both had nice, clean, games. See we're both okay." James said and Dany raised an eyebrow and walked between him and Sirius as James slung an arm over her shoulder.

"I see that…you both smell by the way." She said and they both grinned.

"That's the smell of victory, Masters." Sirius laughed and she rolled her eyes.

"Well victory smells like sweat, grass, testosterone, and leather then. So would one of you like to explain the emergency medical care on the sidelines?" She asked and James grinned.

"Well it was what it looked like. Maya had a dislocated shoulder and Sirius put it back into place because she wanted to keep playing. It was bloody brilliant." James said and clapped Sirius on the back.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, James. It's not that hard to do, you just have to be strong enough. Like no offense Dan, I don't think you could probably do it just because you're probably not physically strong enough unless you're like an undercover weightlifter." He said, eyeing her nonexistent muscles.

"No, I'm not an undercover athlete. I mean I know it looks like I run marathons and bench-press bears in my free time but I'm really more of a read books and do yoga type of girl." She said with a grin and both guys rolled their eyes but still laughed.

"You do yoga?" James asked, clearly amused.

"What? It's good for stress management; it calms me down. Don't you judge me James Potter." She said and Sirius laughed.

"Does that mean you're like super flexible or something?" Sirius asked and she shrugged.

"Not really, I mean I can touch my toes but I can't tie myself in a knot, if that's what you mean." She said as they reached the portrait hole. "Alright, I'm going to go change for the party because now I smell like James' sweat. Bye, boys." She said with a wave and walked to her room. She walked by Kenzie on her way up and the other girl glared at her harshly before passing her. Dany rolled her eyes; Kenzie was in a constant state of hating her. She walked in her room and the other three girls were already there.

"Dan! Good you're here, we need to start getting ready for the party!" Marlene exclaimed and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, sure thing except I walked here between James and Sirius and now I smell like teenage boy sweat and questionable life choices. I'm going to go shower." She said and walked into the bathroom. She pulled off her gross clothes from the game and got in the shower. She hadn't been kidding about them smelling; for a sport you're mostly sitting during, Quidditch players always inevitably ended up unbelievably sweaty. She'd been at the Potter's before and her dad, Charlie, James, and Rae would come back into the house just absolutely dripping with sweat; she never understood how it took so much effort to fly on a broom. She got out of the shower and threw her dirty clothes in the hamper before walking back out of the bathroom, wrapped in her towel. The other girls were getting ready for the party. The party clothes usually consisted of heels of some sort; Dany's feet were already aching in anticipation.

"Dan, I really think that you should do wedges and jeans; you're short enough that you can pull it off." Marlene said and Dany nodded and decided that it was better than a dress and heels; pants were her friends. She found a pair of dark skinny jeans and some tall-ish wedges. She found a top that she was happy with and waited for the others to get ready. Lily and Marlene went for dresses and Alice followed her lead and put on jeans. They all walked down to the party and saw that it was already mostly in full swing in the common room. There was music blaring and people were dancing and talking and drinking.

The four girls got butterbeers, well Marlene and Alice got firewhiskey but Dany and Lily held off; Lily hated having a hangover and Dany generally avoided liquor in public places where she could start blabbering family secrets; because that's what came out of her mouth when she was drunk: important things that she should be taking with her to the grave. And her feelings just started flying out of her mouth when she was drunk. She had drunkenly started crying onto Lily one night about the war when the girls had all been sitting around their room last year, taking shots as a dare. It hadn't been as fun as they had originally anticipated and needless to say, everyone tried to keep her sober in public places.

"Hey girls." Said a voice behind Lily and Dany, as Marlene and Alice had wandered off on their own about half an hour ago. It was James with Sirius and Remus. "Dan, you look flawless as always." James said and hugged his Godsister.

"Aw, thank you James. You certainly smell better than you did a few hours ago. Both of you do." She said pointedly towards Sirius, who merely looked amused.

"Oh yeah, yeah…Lily you look really nice too." He said and Dany relaxed, now that James hadn't said anything moronic to who was essentially the love of his life, at least at this point. Lily looked flattered but also like she wasn't sure what to say, as she was obviously expecting him to say something completely off-color.

"Oh, um…thanks James." She said awkwardly. Dany sighed. These two have a really long way to go. But there was progress; this was progress.

* * *

Lily thought it was a strange feeling to have her best friend be as tall as her for once; not that Lily was particularly tall, only about 5 foot 5, but her 5 foot 2 friend was someone she was used to having to look down to see. But she was eye level with Dany now, in her heels and jeans and it was strange. James, Sirius, and Remus had walked up and Dany had been talking to James so Remus quietly talked to her as Sirius listened in on James' conversation.

"Hey, Lily."

"Remus, it's good to see you again. Crazy game, huh? I mean it was totally normal up until Maya had her arm hurt…I was so worried for her." She mused and he nodded.

"I know, I don't think I have the stomach for Quidditch, honestly. I don't know how Sirius can hit bludgers at people with a clean conscious." Remus responded and Lily quite agreed with that. Sirius wasn't exactly a gentle person but Lily was also pretty sure that he wouldn't really take a lot of joy in hurting people. He didn't seem like he kicked puppies in his spare time or lit cats on fire for fun or something equally as horrific.

"Yeah, I'm definitely not cut out for it either…but I suppose that's why we're not on the team." Lily said and she noticed when that Dany turned around to say something to someone passing by, Sirius clearly checked out her jean-clad butt before quickly looking away.

"Did you just see him…?" Remus said, clearly talking about the same thing she had just seen.

"Yeah, I did. He totally just scoped out her ass." Lily whispered and Remus nodded.

"I think he felt guilty because he looked away awfully quick and trust me when I say that he looks girls up and down shamelessly most of the time and it takes a lot longer than that." Remus said and Lily snickered at that.

"Oh and Remus? Marlene is over there by the couches; I know you like her, just by the way." Lily said quietly and Remus' face turned red and he looked around to check if anyone had heard.

"Who told you?" He whispered.

"No one did. I could tell is all. Just like how I can tell that your boy has it bad for Dany." She said and gestured towards Sirius. "He has for a little while, if I'm right." She added on and Remus nodded.

"Wow, so it's not just me and James that are seeing that? Thank goodness."

"Yeah, it's not just you. Me, Alice, Marles, and James are actually trying to get them together; it's secret and behind their backs but you're definitely welcome to join the campaign. All are welcome." Lily said and Remus nodded.

"Yeah, I think that I might take you up on that. How's it going so far?" He asked and Lily shrugged.

"As well as it can when he has all of these girlfriends, I guess…do you have any idea when Kenzie's going to be kicked to the curb? I've been waiting for a while. We're all sick to death of her." Lily asked and Remus shook his head.

"I don't know…I'd guess soon though. Apparently the sex is getting boring, according to Sirius, and as soon as that happens, it's only a matter of time." Remus replied and Lily felt the urge to gag. Boys were so gross.

"Ugh, well that's gross." She observed and Remus nodded.

"Yup, I just count myself fortunate that he _never_ brings girls back to our room; says he doesn't want them where he sleeps. It's kind of…hard to listen to sometimes, how he talks about them; he's not a bad guy but he just doesn't care about them or their feelings. The boy has a list of things a foot long he won't do with girls and that's right at the top. I think part of it's out of courtesy for us to be honest and we're infinitely grateful for it." Remus said and Lily had to agree that she'd be grateful for that arrangement if she were in Remus and James' positions.

"Yeah…I can see that…but really Remus, go talk to Marlene. She's much funnier when she's drunk." Remus looked embarrassed. "Go on! She's probably at least tipsy. Nothing you say can be so bad that you'll offend her when she's drunk." Lily encouraged and pushed him towards her. She looked over at her group of friends and saw that Dany was now talking to Sirius and James was observing, looking amused. Lily walked over and he smiled in greeting. "Remus just told me about Sirius and his…rules about girls." She said quietly and James laughed.

"Oh he told you about the Ten Commandments?" He said. Lily raised an eyebrow that that.

"I don't think God would appreciate that use of that term, James Potter." Lily commented and he laughed again.

"Well God hasn't struck me down yet…but he actually told you about them?" James said and Lily nodded.

"He didn't say what they were but he said they existed. I'm going to be really nosy and ask if there's a reason behind them." Lily said and James shrugged.

"Not sure, to be honest. Remus and I always thought that he didn't bring girls back to our room as a courtesy but the rest of them…I don't know it's like he's holding off on being a real boyfriend to them or something. It's weird. Maybe it's the Sirius version of saving your virginity; maybe he's just waiting for someone that can convince him to break his own rules." James said with a shrug as they watched Sirius and Dany talk. He said something and she laughed, snorting her butterbeer out her nose, which only caused her to laugh harder. He started laughing at her laughing, with butterbeer dripping down her face, the original joke long forgotten.

"You're not going to tell me what these other nine things are, are you?" Lily said and James shook his head.

"No, that's not for me to say. Sorry…they're really cute you know; he needs to stop with all these whores and just suck it up and ask her out. I'm going to lose my mind here soon." Suddenly the music changed to a song that Lily and Dany had spent many a day at her house dancing to. Dany abruptly stopped talking to Sirius and looked at Lily. Lily grinned at her and grabbed her hand.

"Come on! We're dancing; come if you want boys." Lily called over her shoulder as she was followed onto the dance floor by Dany. She saw Sirius and James warily trailing behind them. They ran into Marles and Alice and they all started laughing.

"Is this what I think it is?" Marlene all but shouted into her ear. Lily nodded.

"Yup. Damn this is excellent timing." She responded and Lily started to dance with Dany, coaxing her into dancing by pulling on her hands. Finally, her white-haired friend gave in and started dancing and singing with her. Lily looked over her friends shoulder to see James and Sirius talking; it was actually more like James was talking to Sirius as Sirius watched Dany dance. Dany was completely oblivious to that fact and was singing along with Marlene now.

"Come a little closer…You could be my soldier…Keeping me safe from all who conspire…I'm looking for some shelter…From the helter skelter…Just keep me away from all who conspire…" _(It's a Bea Miller song called "Enemy Fire" and I don't own it)_ They were both singing and dancing and Lily thought that Dany was moving her hips a little too much in those jeans and heels for it to be entirely wholesome. The funniest part of the whole thing was that Dany was entirely sober and was still dancing like that, at least in Lily's opinion. Everything suddenly got a lot less funny when Kenzie finally made an appearance and caught her boyfriend watching one of his best friends dance. Marlene saw the angry blonde seconds after Lily and gestured to her so Dany could see. She stopped dancing and turned around slightly to see what was happening. Alice started paying attention too and James edged away from the couple; this was a one-way trip to a disaster and he clearly didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.

"Oh fuck." Lily heard Marlene say and she quite agreed with that assessment. Dany walked towards Lily.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Dany asked her and Lily shrugged.

"No clue…one second she was nowhere to be found and next second, she's right here yelling." Lily responded, trying to be heard over the loud music.

"She's looks pissed; what the hell happened?" Dany said and Lily shook her head; her friend's obliviousness to her best guy friend's obvious interest was astounding.

"I think we're done for tonight. Marles, why don't you get Al and meet us back in our room, okay?" Lily shouted to Marlene and the girl nodded and vanished as they started to make their way towards the girls' stairs. Dany paused to hug James and she said something in his ear, purely so he could hear her over the music; he nodded and Lily continued to push her way through the crowd with her friend. They made it up to their room after almost being shoved into other people at least three times and Dany sat on her bed.

"What the hell was that? Are you ever going to give me an explanation?" Dany demanded as Lily sat down next to her on the other girl's bed. Just then Marlene and Alice walked in.

"Ah, Marlene. Why don't you explain why Kenzie was pissed? I'm getting tired of doing it and maybe the message will get through if another voice is saying it." Lily said tiredly and Marlene grinned as she sat on the ground, legs stretched out in front of her. Alice sat cross-legged on the ground next to Marles.

"Well you see, Danilynn, I don't know if you missed the memo, but you're a very pretty girl and when you dance like how you just were, guys tend to look and then their girlfriends get pissed off because lo and behold, their boyfriends are looking at some other girl." She said knowingly. Dany rolled her eyes.

"You all are being ridiculous. I was legitimately dancing how I always do." She said and Lily shook her head.

"Sweetie, you kind of…came into yourself over summer and it's a little different now is all. It's not your fault and you shouldn't feel awkward or anything but I saw it happen. Our _good_ friend Sirius was getting a _good_ look at your butt and his girlfriend caught him and she was _good_ and pissed." Lily said and Alice laughed.

"Seriously, this is hilarious…oh I bet he's in a world of hurt right now." Alice said and the other girls laughed.

"Remus was saying that he thinks that she's almost gone, thankfully." Lily said.

"How does he know that?" Marlene asked curiously and Lily shook her head as if she couldn't believe that the next sentence was actually going to come out of her mouth.

"He said that Sirius was saying that the sex is getting boring; said they usually are gone pretty quick after that." She said and every other girl in the room rolled her eyes.

"Wow. Well I think we can all safely rule Sirius out of the 'meant for monogamy' category." Marlene said and everyone nodded in agreement to that. Poor Dany, Lily thought, she had completely fallen for someone who everyone thought was incapable of monogamy. Then she remembered what James had said: "maybe he's just waiting for someone who can convince him to break his own rules". There was still hope.

* * *

"Mate, she's going to kill you; I hope you realize that." James said and he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I realize, James. Thanks for reminding me though." Sirius said dryly. Kenzie, or "Crazy Kenzie" as James had dubbed her, was pissed; she was fucking livid.

"No problem. I hope getting a good look at my Godsister's ass in those jeans was worth it, just by the way." James said with a yawn and Sirius dropped his toothbrush, which had been in his hand halfway to his mouth.

"What?" He said and James laughed.

"Please, don't play dumb. I saw you looking at her tonight; I think the only person that _didn't_ see it was her, honestly. I should probably tell her to stop dancing so much, it gives me the extra worry of perverted guys like you looking her up and down." James joked and Sirius tossed a pillow at him before picking his toothbrush back off the floor.

"Like you could tell her what to do." Sirius responded and James grunted in agreement.

"I think the only person who can tell her what to do with any relative success is her dad and even that isn't for sure." James said, yawning again. "Sometimes she won't even listen to him if she's hell-bent on something. That's only happened a few times though." Sirius rinsed off his toothbrush and stuck it back in his mouth.

"That's great James. Now I really think we should address on a scale of 1-10 how pissed Kenzie is right now." He said and Remus happened to walk in at that moment.

"Eleven." The werewolf said.

"Twenty-seven." James said.

"Nineteen." Frank said as he added on as he entered behind Remus.

"Wow, thanks guys. I'm glad to know that this time tomorrow, I'll likely be dead." Sirius said and James started laughing at absolutely nothing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Ah, I see no one ever bothered to pass along some age-old advice…'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Good luck brother. Now let us get some sleep. I want to be well-rested for your funeral." James said and they all got into bed and Sirius spent a little while thinking about how fucked he was before he finally fell asleep.

He woke up late and tiredly walked down in what he had slept in to the common room, not bothering to change due to the fact it was a Sunday. He rubbed his eyes and realized that Kenzie was sitting in an armchair in the otherwise empty common room. Fuck. He decided to try to cut her off and just start talking.

"Look, Kenzie I—"

"No, Sirius you don't even know what I'm upset about!" She started yelling immediately and Sirius felt a headache coming on.

"Kenzie, I know that you're upset but I can't exactly address your problems when you won't tell me what they are." Sirius said and Kenzie threw her hands up in the air, clearly pissed.

"Where do I start? There is so much wrong with this relationship that I don't even know which problem to start with." She said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't realize that we had so many problems…would you care to enlighten me as to what they are exactly?" He said and she started to pace.

"You sleep in until like noon on the weekends instead of going to Hogsmeade with me, your self-esteem is horrible and your expectations for just about everything are crazy and way too high." She started to list off and he raised an eyebrow again.

"You do realize that those are all just problems with _me_ , right?" He asked dryly and she ignored him.

"Not to mention that you can't even keep a promise to see me over summer; we went three months without seeing each other and you didn't even write!"

"Kenzie, I didn't see _anyone_ over summer; it's nothing personal." He said tiredly and didn't even feel bad about lying to her about that.

"And now you're just lying to my face! Don't you bullshit me Sirius Black, I know you saw her." She snapped and Sirius felt his eyes widen.

"How do you know about that?" He said and then wanted to hit himself in the face for admitting that. He was fucked now.

"So you admit that you cancelled on me to go be with her? You admit it?" She started to yell and simultaneously cry. This was getting ridiculous, Sirius thought to himself.

"I don't even know what I'm admitting to so please enlighten me!" He yelled back and Kenzie started to cry in earnest.

"My aunt works in St. Mungo's. She said that you were going in and out of some high security part of the hospital for over a week; the same week we were supposed to be together at James'!" She retorted and Sirius wanted to slam his head into a damn wall.

"No one said that I was with Dany! Because God forbid that I go visit someone in the hospital!" He shouted and she shook her head.

"My aunt is a receptionist. She saw her come out to get you. She heard you ask an Auror where she was. She saw her essentially fly into your arms. You can't get out of this." She said and Sirius shook his head.

"Yeah, I was there. I was in the hospital and I was with Dany. Is that what you want me to say? I don't exactly see what point you think you're trying to make right now!" He snapped and she threw a nearby book at his head. He ducked it, barely. "What the fuck? You're bloody crazy!" He yelled and she started to cry even harder. He found that he had no inclination to stop her from crying. He _always_ wanted to keep girls from crying, except for right now.

"We're done. I can't handle being with someone who doesn't put me and my needs first." She said and Sirius wondered if her need for his attention was just as pressing as the girl who had needed him at her father's hospital bed; he somehow doubted that Kenzie had been _that_ desperate for his time and attention. He shrugged at her.

"If that's what you want." He said and she shook her head before walking out of the, blissfully empty, Gryffindor common room.

"She broke up our relationship and mark my words, I'll get revenge on that bitch." She said before leaving through the portrait hole. Sirius put his head in his hands and groaned. Bloody women. James walked in not twenty minutes later, Remus by his side.

"Hey Mate, where's Crazy Kenzie?" James asked as he sat down next to his best friend.

"Don't know, don't care." He said and shrugged.

"It's over?" Remus asked and Sirius nodded. He saw Remus wince and James looked victorious. "Damn, that was sudden." He remarked and Sirius nodded tiredly. James was eyeing him keenly; he suspected that more was going on than what Sirius was letting on. He'd have to fill him in on what exactly had happened when they were alone.

"Yeah, who knew that the fact I sleep in late could be such a problem?" He asked dryly and waved a hand. He figured that it wasn't a complete lie, seeing as she had actually brought that up at one point.

"You're joking. She dumped you over that?" Remus asked disbelievingly and Sirius nodded, feeling bad for lying to Remus.

"She said I didn't make a big enough deal over Hogsmeade visits or something; I don't know it was kind of hard to really hear what she was saying through all of the tears." He said and Remus raised an eyebrow.

"She cried? You just sat there and let her cry?" He said skeptically and Sirius knew why; as soon as his girlfriends got the waterworks going, he'd usually say anything to get the tears to stop.

"Yup. I sat there and let her cry." He said and that was the truth. She had been practically sobbing and he had just let it happen. Remus looked at him like he wasn't quite sure what to think of that before standing back up.

"I'm going to go do some homework in the library…where you two won't blow anything up or change words in my essay." He said and left James and Sirius alone.

"Alright, what'd she really dump you over?" James asked, clearly having seen through the shitty excuse he had given Remus.

"She found out that I was at the hospital with Dany during summer. Apparently her aunt is a receptionist at St. Mungo's; she never mentioned that before, ironically." Sirius said with a shrug and James clapped him on the back.

"Well at least you were dumped for a noble cause. Was it worth it? Was sitting with Dan and her mom worth breaking up with Kenzie?" He asked and Sirius guessed that there was some kind of point that James was trying to make.

"Yeah, of course it was…her dad was comatose. I really think that something like that takes priority over my girlfriend's sex drive. I mean call me crazy but frantic letters written before leaving for the hospital kind of take precedence over pretty much everything else that's going on." Sirius responded and James nodded as if he agreed with him. Sirius doubted that it would be that easy to end the discussion though.

"You put her above Kenzie and when Kenzie found out she got pissed." James observed and Sirius nodded.

"Yup. She was what? Number three?" Sirius asked and James shook his head.

"She was number four." James corrected him quietly.

* * *

Sirius spent a total of three weeks single between Kenzie and Kimberly O'Cleary and they had been the best three weeks James had spent with his friend in a really long time. Even though no one ever really talked about it, all of the girlfriends put a strain on the relationship James had with his best friend and they both knew it. Dany sure as hell knew it because James would complain to her sometimes. There were days when all of the guys were busy and Sirius was off making out with one of his girls when Dany would sit next to James in his bed and they'd talk for hours like they were kids again. It was a Saturday in mid-November when this same thing happened. Dany was lying to his right and they were both staring at the ceiling, arms brushing.

"Hey Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"What does Brady Harris have to do with you and/or Lily?" James asked quietly. He had been turning that over in his mind ever since they had come back from break. Dany turned her head to look at him.

"I'm going to bloody murder Lily. What did she tell you?" Dany sighed. James' eyes widened.

"Nothing…it's just Sirius said he overheard you and Lily talking about him a while back; I was just curious." James said and Dany put a hand on her face.

"It—it's ridiculous really…Marlene heard a rumor last year that he had a thing for me and then he helped me pick up my books one day when I dropped them near Charms. He was nice, I guess. But he asked me if I needed help with Charms because apparently my inability is known to many people, even ones not in our year. He's been helping me on and off all year after class and on weekends. Now everyone's freaking out because apparently that means marriage or something." She said with a shrug and James fought the urge to shake her by the shoulders and yell that going near him was a horrible idea.

"Oh, I can't say I've ever had a real conversation with him…what's he like?" James asked her and she thought for a second.

"He's…nice, I guess. I mean I don't think nice is a good word for it, it's too wholesome I guess. Maybe charming would be better? But anyways, Lily thinks he's going to ask me out. He's definitely smart, I mean he's a Ravenclaw so I'd assume so anyways. I mean he's an okay tutor but he isn't super patient so that's not very helpful it's just that I feel bad asking Lily for help all the time…speaking of Lils, how's it going with her?" Dany asked, changing the subject.

"Ugh, why is your best friend so beautiful? She's bloody gorgeous and I have to see her everyday and every time I see her I just want to tell her that I love her and I know that's a horrible idea so I don't. I think it's going to kill me, I'm not joking." He said and Dany smiled a little, sympathetically.

"You're growing on her, James; trust me when I say that patience will pay off with her. You don't want to fuck it all up now by running out of patience. I mean it could always be worse; she could be sucking face every morning over breakfast." Dany said dryly and James felt bad for her. He sometimes forgot that Dany was crushing hard on his best friend and when he did remember, he couldn't imagine being in her shoes, watching him kiss girls, knowing he was _sleeping_ with girls, and then hearing all about it later. She put on a good face James had to admit; she fooled even him sometimes and she definitely had Sirius under the delusion that she couldn't care less about his habits.

"Aw, Dan I'm sorry about that. I mean he was single for a while…it was a nice break right?" James said and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, it was a nice break from the constant snogging I have to admit…you know _if_ Brady asks me out, which is a big if, I think I might say yes." James wanted to tell her that doing that would be a mistake; dating Brady was an awful idea and he knew it and he wanted to tell her but he knew she wouldn't listen. She would think he was talking as Sirius' best friend who wanted them together and not her Godbrother that wanted to protect her from scumbag guys.

"Really?" He asked, trying to stay neutral for her sake; he could keep an open mind. Maybe Brady was a great guy. He doubted it but still he could try.

"Yeah…I can't keep my life on hold for some guy that I'll never be with and has probably slept with more girls than he has fingers…no offense to Sirius or your friendship with him." She added on at the end and James had to admit she had a point but at the same time he found it so frustrating that it was right there in front of them, in front of _both_ of them, and neither could see that they were essentially perfect.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see…you know your birthday's next week." James said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"Is it really? Damn, I'll be fifteen." She said and James thought about that. Where was his Godsister going? Where had the girl sitting on her dad's shoulders gone?

"What do you want?" James asked and as always, Dany shook her head.

"I don't want anything…I have everything I need. I'm happy." She said quietly and James believed her; she'd been saying that ever since she was a little girl and had outgrown her 'I want as many books as I can fit in my room' phase.

"Well that's not very helpful." He observed and she shrugged.

"I'm being serious, you know. I don't want anything." She said again and just as the words left her mouth, the door opened. James didn't have to look up to know it was Sirius.

"Hey, Sirius." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"Hey. Uh, Dan what are you doing here?" Sirius said and Dany pulled herself into a half-sitting position.

"I'm talking to James, my Godbrother. Is that okay with you?" She said and he shrugged, clearly missing the tone that said she didn't care whether or not it was okay with him because she wasn't leaving. She lay back down and continued to look at the ceiling.

"But actually what do you want? Your parents and my parents and your brother have been hounding me for over a month now to ask you." James said and Dany shook her head.

"I _told_ you; I don't want anything. I have everything I need." She said and James wanted to bang his head into the wall.

"Uh not to be nosy but why are we getting Dany things?" Sirius asked and Dany waved a hand.

"No reason, nothing important." She said and James ignored that.

"Her birthday's next week." James said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yup. The 21st. That's what? Next Thursday?" Dany said, like she didn't care about it at all.

"Yep. Damn you have potions on your birthday. That sucks." James said and Dany nodded in agreement. "Now please tell me what you want for your birthday; you're impossible to buy for and I don't think I can keep giving you common Muggle household items as jokes for much longer." James laughed and Dany grinned. Last year it had been a toaster and the year before that it was an alarm clock. She had laughed so hard she had almost cried at the toaster.

"Just get me another one; they're funny. The toaster was really original." She remarked and James grinned; he had been proud of that one.

"I mean I know I'm hilarious but I think your parents want to get you something more heartfelt than a can opener so help them out if you don't mind." James pried and she shrugged.

"I told you that I don't want anything. I have a wonderful family, great friends, a nice house, and everything I need. Don't spend money on me, not when there are other people who need it so much more." She said and James saw the Masters mentality coming out in her. They were all like that and they all genuinely believed that. It was give, give, give with them and they never thought to take any for themselves.

"I'm still buying you something." James said and Dany shrugged before sitting up.

"Fine, but I'm not enabling you. I'll get out of your hair, you boys probably have something top secret to talk about or something." She said before standing up. She had a serious case of bedhead from lying in bed with him all day. She kissed him on top of his head quickly, as she always had, and waved to Sirius before leaving the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"How's Kimberly?" James asked his friend as he sat up. His back hurt from not moving.

"She's fine I guess. I don't know; we didn't really do any talking." Sirius said with a shrug. James rolled his eyes. "Did she just kiss the top of your head?" He asked, looking like he hadn't seen right.

"Oh yeah, it's something that our parents always did to us. It kind of became a thing when we were little kids…she had a huge problem with homesickness when we started Hogwarts and every night before we went to our rooms I'd kiss the top of her head like our parents always did and she said it reminded her of home. It's kind of weird but whatever I guess." James said with a shrug. He'd never really thought about how weird that probably looked.

"Oh, well that's actually really nice of you, James. I always knew you had it in you." Sirius laughed and James flipped him off.

"Oh yeah I'm a big marshmallow. Unfortunately I'm also a big marshmallow that has nothing to give her for her fifteenth." James groaned when suddenly an owl tapped on the glass of the window. He got up to open the window and the owl held out its leg. "Ah, I see Daniel's getting antsy about it too." He said as he petted the Masters family owl before he flew off. He opened up the letter and read the first sentence and wanted to cry. _I have an idea._


	14. Can't Take It

_Disclaimer: Not mine at all_

 _So I'm going to be honest here and say that I have so much of this story written and I either haven't gotten around to posting it or it's chunks that are crazily out of order but I promise to be better now! Oh, and Sirius kind of doesn't think things through._

 _Read and review!_

 _Love, Essie_

 _P.S. Keep an eye on the mystery gift; it comes back later on_

* * *

Lost in the cracks of the landslide

You saw me slipping on my blind side  
I'm feeling lost, feeling tongue tied  
And now I'm frozen in your headlights  
Deep in the haze of your love high  
I used to soar on the live-wire  
I'm coming down from your supply  
And I don't know if you can make right

I can't take it  
From the day I saw my heart start breaking  
No one saved me  
I can't take it, can't believe I really lost you, baby  
Earth keeps shaking  
All around  
Oh, you let me down  
And I can't take it  
From the day I saw my heart start breaking  
No one saved me

~ _OctaHate,_ Ryn Weaver

* * *

Dany woke up to her roommates jumping on her bed.

"Danyyyyyyy you're fifteen get the hell up!" Lily was yelling as she jumped on her bed. Marlene and Alice were both laughing and continued to jump on her bed.

"Alright, alright I'm up I think you guys can stop before you break something." She groaned as she got up, rubbing her eyes.

"We have presents!" Marlene said excitedly as the girls pointed to her bed stand.

"Aw, you guys seriously didn't have to get me anything." She said and they all rolled their eyes.

"Uh, yeah we did. If you don't want gifts, you shouldn't have friends." Alice said smartly and the other two nodded. "Go on, open them!" She said and Dany sat down and grabbed the closest package. She read the card and smiled at Lily.

"Thanks Lils…" She said and opened it. It was a shoebox. "Really? Thanks." She said as she laughed at the fact that Lily had finally gotten her a pair of the boots she had been borrowing from her for years.

"It's time you had your own, really. Between the two of us, we're going to wear mine into the ground in no time." She said with a grin and Dany hugged her. Alice pointed to hers and Dany checked for a card but found none so she opened it. It was a photo album of the four of them. Dany smiled and flipped through it. There were plenty of blank pages in the back.

"There are a lot of blanks, which kind of ties into my gift." Marlene said and handed her another package with a camera in it. "It's magic so the pictures will move, I know you've been after one for a while now." She said and Dany grinned before hugging both of them.

"Thanks guys, really. Love you all." She said and Lily suddenly pointed.

"I think we missed a few guys." She said and at the foot of Dany's bed was several boxes that Dany was quite sure hadn't been there five minutes ago. They all moved down to the end of the bed and inspected the packages. Lily handed her one, it was small no bigger than a matchbox.

"Open this one." She said and Dany found no card so she opened it to see a jewelry box. "Is that jewelry?" Lily asked interestedly.

"Relax Lils, it's probably just my dad or James or something." She said and opened the box. There was a note in here that had been signed by four different men.

"What does it say?" Alice asked almost breathlessly. This is what jewelry does to teenage girls.

"Our steel magnolia, it's as strong and as beautiful as you are. Dad, Rae, James, and Charlie…oh wow." She said as she looked into the box after putting the note down. "It's a necklace." She pulled it out of the box and it was really beautiful. It was exactly what the note had said; it was a magnolia flower hanging off a chain and Dany suspected that it was literally polished steel. She gently put it back in the box.

"That's beautiful." Lily said and everyone nodded.

"Yeah, it really is…I should probably go thank James and Rae before I forget. Not to mention that I hardly ever see Rae at school." She said. "I'll come back and finish up, alright? I'll be back in a minute." She said and walked out of the room headed for the boys' staircase. She knocked gently on the boys' door. Remus opened the door and smiled.

"Hey Dan. What's up?" He asked. Dany's birthday wasn't widely advertised and she wasn't offended in the least that he didn't know the date.

"I'm looking for James."

"Oh, yeah he's right here. Come on in." Remus said and waved her in. James was currently shirtless, clearly getting ready for class today. He grinned.

"Hey. To what do I owe the pleasure of being graced with the Birthday Girl's presence?" He laughed and she hugged him.

"I see that my no guidance on gifts turned out rather well." She said and he hugged her back.

"I'm glad you liked it. It was your dad's idea though so I definitely shouldn't be taking much credit." He said and she shrugged.

"You signed the card and don't pretend that there wasn't Potter money put into that." She said and he shrugged.

"There was a little bit but it's Mom and Dad's job as Godparents to spoil you and it's my job as your almost-brother to help them." He said and she shrugged.

"Spoil me, don't spoil me, and see if I care. Alright, I have to go see Rae and then I'm being held hostage until I finish with the presents by Lily, Alice, and Marlene." She said and waved bye to the room. There was a general sound of farewell and she climbed the stairs to the Seventh Year dorms.

She knocked on the door and one of her brother's roommates opened the door. He looked tired and like he really didn't want to be awake.

"Hey Travis. Is my brother in there?" She asked and he nodded and let her in.

"Oi, Masters get up; your sister's here." He said and pushed her brother out of bed. Dany grinned and sprayed him with cold water. Rhaegar sat up and looked scandalized.

"Seriously Dan? Unfair. Happy birthday by the way." He said and got up, drying himself off. She laughed.

"Consider it payback for everyday that we're home. But actually I just got the necklace and it's beautiful." She said and he grinned before hugging her.

"I thought so too. Me, Dad, Charlie, and James were all going crazy trying to figure something out. Dad went all sentimental this year and this is what happens when that happens." He said and she smiled.

"Apparently. He should be sentimental more often then."

"Alright, I think it's time for little sisters to go get ready for class. See you later, Dany." He said and she walked all the way back to her own room. All three girls were still sitting there, looking interested and were all in states of being partially ready for class.

"Let's finish up with these!" Alice said excitedly and Dany sat back down and started opening. Clothes from her mom and books from Dorea were the next two. Lily pointed.

"Do you have a long lost relative? Because unless I'm forgetting one, you have an extra." She said and Dany shrugged.

"You're not missing anyone. Maybe it's from Moody and Florence, I don't know." She said and inspected it. There was no note, no card, nothing. If it _was_ Alastor, that wouldn't surprise her at all. She unwrapped it and it was a book. It was a very old and obviously loved book. "Children's and Household Tales by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm…these are Grimm's fairytales; it's a damn old version too…what the hell?" She opened it and there was a folded up note in completely unfamiliar handwriting.

"What does it say?" Lily asked. Dany reread it a couple times and couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"It says 'love me, read me, never leave me'." She said and she flipped over the note and there was nothing on the back either. "Weird."

"One of the guys?" Marlene suggested and Dany shook her head.

"No, I know their handwriting, at least James, Sirius, and Remus' and I doubt that Frank or Peter would be sending me anything for the birthday that they don't know I have today." She said and handed the note around. No one recognized the handwriting so she put it back in the book. Lily checked the time.

"Shit we have to go! We don't want to be late for Potions." She said and the girls frantically started to get their uniforms on and walked down to breakfast. They all sat down and idly talked about who would think to send Dany an old book for her birthday.

"Somehow, I can't see Moody sending me a book of fairytales. Florence, maybe, but definitely not Alastor. Dorea already got me something and so did you all. James and Rae went in with my dad and Charlie. That's really everyone who knows that my birthday's today." Dany said through a mouthful of pancakes. Just then all of the guys sat down. James sat next to her.

"What are you ladies talking about?" He asked and Dany shrugged.

"Not much…someone sent me a book of fairytales for my birthday." Dany said after she took a drink of pumpkin juice.

"Who sent it?" James asked as he helped himself to some sausage.

"No clue; there was a note but there wasn't a name and I didn't recognize the handwriting." She said and James looked at her, obviously interested.

"What did the note say?" He asked. James was always interested in the unknown and the mysterious.

"It said um…'love me, read me, never leave me' or something like that. It was really weird." She answered and James raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's…not normal. Why do these things always happen to you?" He asked and she shrugged. It was actually quite a good question. The random anonymous gift couldn't have been sent to one of her friends; _of course_ it had to be her.

"Don't know. The universe likes to keep me on my toes I guess. Ah, here comes the daily spectacle." She said and James looked up and rolled his eyes as Kimberly O'Cleary sat down next to her boyfriend who happily put his coffee down in exchange for a nice snog.

"Lucky us. That's your real birthday gift, Dan. Happy birthday." James laughed and everyone else, with the exception of Sirius and Kimberly laughed. Frank, Remus, and Peter all looked surprised.

"It's your birthday? Happy birthday!" Frank said and Peter wished her a happy birthday as well.

"Yeah, happy fifteenth Dany. Why didn't you say anything?" Remus said and Dany shrugged.

"No reason. I don't make a big deal out of it." She said and continued eating.

"Every year it's the same song and dance. It's 'James I have everything I want please don't get me a gift' and then every year I get her something except I'm just flying blind because she won't give me any guidance." James said, looking like he was so used to Dany trying to avoid her birthday that he no longer even expected a different answer than 'nothing' when he asked her what she wanted.

"You know I'm being serious about that. I really don't think you should have spent money on me when other people definitely need it more; that's all I'm saying." She said, trying to defend herself on the topic.

"We told her that if she didn't want gifts, she shouldn't have friends." Alice said and James nodded.

"That's true, Prewett speaks the truth. Now, unless we want to miss Potions all together, we should probably start walking…oi, Sirius I know your enjoying yourself but it's time to go to class." James said, turning his attention to his best friend. Sirius stopped snogging Kimberly and Dany noticed that her lipstick was obviously smeared. Dany fought the urge to gag.

"Alright, alright I'm coming." He said and got up without saying goodbye to his girlfriend. Dany almost felt bad for her as they walked away from where she was still sitting. "Oh, happy birthday Dan." He added on their way out of the Great Hall.

"Thanks." She said quietly. She really had nothing to add onto that; they hardly ever spoke one-on-one when he had a girlfriend. He had been with Kimberly for a little more than two weeks and the fact they weren't talking was right on schedule with all of his other relationships.

"Hey Dany!" Lily shouted from in front of them and Dany looked up from where she was looking down as she walked.

"Yeah?" She asked warily.

"We need to go dress shopping next Hogsmeade visit!" Lily called back and then slowly fell back to talk to her friend, who Sirius was still near from their half-hearted conversation.

"Yeah, we really do. I can't wait to pick a dress that doesn't have to be approved by my mom. Every time she tries to pick a dress for me, it's just abysmal; she has a wonderful fashion sense but also seems really intent on making me look like a cupcake." Dany said and Lily laughed with a nod. She had the experience last year of shopping with Dany and Rhea Masters.

"They all look like quinceanera-meets-wedding gone wrong." Lily giggled. "And then she tells you that you look like a princess and then you start lecturing her."

"You start lecturing your mom?" Sirius asked randomly and Dany nodded.

"On how being a princess is dumb and for girls who are too weak to save themselves."

"Wow, you have something against Cinderella?" Sirius asked, amused. Dany shrugged.

"Not really…it's just not me, is all. Like I don't know…I don't want to look like a princess; I want to look like me. But apparently my mother doesn't see it that way and takes a pretty hard line on my dresses for New Years." Dany said. This piqued Lily's interest.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, curious.

"She never lets me wear black or red for some reason. I mean I get the black thing, she thinks it's not…becoming of a younger woman but I don't know about the red. Maybe she thinks that it would be a bad color on me or something." Dany said with a shrug. Lily looked her up and down, making her self-conscious.

"Please, red would look phenomenal on you and I don't want to hear anything otherwise. I think that's what you need; you need a red dress." Lily said decidedly. Dany shook her head.

"No, I'm not feeling that daring this year…maybe next year or for New Years." She said and Lily looked like she was going to protest but decided against it.

"Whatever you say girlfriend…I'm just saying that you'd look killer in red. I wish I could wear the color but unfortunately it doesn't go well with my permanently red hair." Lily said, pointing to her own head. Dany laughed.

"You know technically you're _always_ wearing red, Lils." She said and her friend laughed.

"True enough. But seriously, you have to promise me that you'll wear red to the Yule Ball at least once before we graduate." Lily said and Dany thought about it for a second before nodding.

"Alright, sometime before graduation." Dany agreed and Lily looked victorious. Shopping with her was going to be a real bloody nightmare this year.

* * *

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's a wonder that he hasn't caught a disease yet." Marlene said and Lily fought the urge to vomit as Dany wrinkled her nose. Alice, for her part, was lucky enough to be in the bathroom for this conversation.

"Marlene, I don't really care if Sirius has herpes from all of those girls. I'd just like to put my shoes on in peace." Lily said and Dany looked like she agreed with that. Alice stuck her head out of the bathroom.

"Why did I just hear someone mention herpes?" She asked and Dany waved a hand.

"You don't want to know. Believe me." She said and looked rather disgusted. Lily couldn't blame her; she didn't even like the guy and was grossed out by the idea of him having some awful STD. Lily really hoped that he practiced safe sex.

"Whatever. So are you ladies ready for dress shopping?" Alice asked excitedly. Lily was so freaking excited for dress shopping she could hardly stand it.

"Sure. However, I think that Lily might be on the verge of peeing her pants so we should probably hurry and leave. Before she _actually_ passes out or something from the anticipation." Dany laughed and Marlene chuckled too. Lily stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"Oh shut up. I know you two are excited too; don't even bother trying to hide it." She retorted and Dany and Marlene both shrugged.

"It's whatever, Lils. I'm sure it'll be fun but if there's anything I hate, it's shopping for dresses." Dany said as she searched for her wand. "Although I might change my mind without my mom breathing over my shoulder as I look for one." She amended and Lily nodded excitedly.

"See? It's going to be fun. Alright, let's go!" She practically yelled and the other three followed her out of their room. The three girls walked down to the town in peace, all easily talking about who should wear what color and whom they thought was going to ask whom. By the time they reached one of the only stores in Hogsmeade that sold dresses, the Sun was high in the sky. They walked in and realized that they were far from the only people that had come up with this idea. There were girls everywhere, all frantically grabbing things off the racks.

"This is giving me anxiety, Lily. I seriously hate you right now for this." Dany said to her best friend and Lily had to admit that all of the girls pushing each other for dresses were making her anxious too. She had liked dress shopping when she had gone with Dany and their mothers, in the quiet yet expensive shops that proudly accepted the Masters' patronage and gave them essentially anything they wanted. She didn't know if she was going to like this as much.

"Well, we're here now; we might as well look around." Alice said and they all agreed on that. Lily started to push her way to the racks next to Marlene. She saw Dany and Alice about ten feet away doing the same thing. They shuffled around for a while and eventually Lily came up with a couple of dresses. One was a peach and one was a darker purple. She shuffled over to where Dany, Alice, and Marlene were convened by the dressing rooms. They all had a couple of dresses each.

"Sorry girls, there's only one room left." The storekeeper said to them and they all shrugged.

"We can all squeeze; it's no big deal." Lily said and the other girls nodded in agreement. The woman shrugged and showed them to the room. They all shuffled in and hung the dresses up. "Well this is cozy." Lily commented and they all laughed before they started trying on dresses. The first round was a bust, with Lily in the peach dress ("honestly does _anything_ not clash with my hair?"), Dany in a dark blue ("I look so pale that people might mistake me for a ghost"), Marlene in an orange ("I don't know what I was thinking when I grabbed this, honestly"), and Alice in a red ("It's just not my color, I don't think I'm bold enough"). The second round had more success. Lily found her dress in the purple dress that according to Dany was actually _plum_.

"It's a nuance that very few appreciate, Lillian." Dany had said when she had commented on the shade of purple. It took Alice a few tries before she found a gold dress she liked and Marlene decided on the dark blue that Dany had originally discarded. "I seriously hate dress shopping. This is so frustrating…how do all of you have dresses?" Dany complained before Lily handed her the seventh dress.

"We're not as picky. Some of us haven't been wearing designer since we were in diapers." Marlene commented and Dany flipped her off.

"Sorry that I'm so sick of green dresses I might vomit." She commented as she discarded _another_ dress. Lily finally got fed up and just handed her the original peach dress she had tried on. Dany was hardly paying attention to what Lily was handing her at this point. Lily zipped her up and Dany looked in the mirror.

"I like this on, Dan." Alice said and Marlene nodded in agreement.

"It's simple. It's a pretty color on you too; it doesn't make you look like a ghost." Marlene added and Lily agreed.

"Ladies, I do believe that we've just found the dress for the impossible Danilynn Masters." Lily laughed and Dany nodded.

"Congratulations you guys; you've done the impossible." She said with a grin and they all left the dressing room with their dresses. No sooner had they walked out that the lady put another group of girls in the room, insisting that they too could squeeze in.

"I see we're not the only ones who are trying to put four in a room meant for one." Marlene observed and the others laughed. The girls paid for their dresses and walked out of the store.

"Just think…all we need now is shoes." Alice said and the other three girls, even Lily, groaned.

"I forgot about shoes. Thanks Al." Marlene said and Dany looked like she wanted to strangle someone at the thought of more intensive shopping in crowded stores with screaming girls. Lily quite agreed with her on that.

"I think that can wait until next time." Dany said tiredly and there was a unanimous sound of agreement. No one was eager to revisit anything like where they had just been. "Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer and then back to the castle? We can't do much more with these." She said, gesturing to the dresses they were all carrying. They all walked into the pub and Alice immediately pushed them towards one end of the room. They sat down at a table and Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Are you particularly attached to this half of the room, Al?" She asked and Alice shook her head.

"No, but I'm sorry I didn't want to spend the rest of my day watching Sirius suck Kimberly O'Cleary's face off." She said and everyone nodded.

"Al, you're like maybe 5 foot 1…how did you see that from the door?" Dany asked and Alice grinned.

"It's like an extra sense; avoiding Sirius snogging is a form of art. It takes time to hone a skill like that." She said and they all laughed before ordering their butterbeers. The drinks were brought to them moments later and they all sipped on them quietly.

"Alright, so I want to place a bet." Marlene said abruptly. Everyone looked at her curiously. Dany put her drink down.

"I'm listening. What are we betting on, Marles?" Dany asked.

"Do you think Kimberly over there is going to get dumped before the Yule Ball?" Marlene asked and Lily knew the look on Dany's face; she was going to clean up this one. "What does everyone think?"

"Yes." Lily said.

"Yeah, there's no way she'll make it another three weeks. It's been three already." Alice agreed.

"I have to say that I agree with that it's looking like there won't be much of a bet because we all are agreeing…what about you Dan?" Marlene asked. Dany was staring off, clearly thinking.

"No, he'll still be dating her." She said thoughtfully. The other three girls exchanged looks.

"Really? You really think she'll be around for three more weeks?" Lily asked. Dany nodded as she sipped her butterbeer.

"Alright, what are the stakes? Two galleons as usual?" Marlene asked and everyone nodded except Dany. "Dan? Is that okay with you?" She asked the girl who still seemed to be in thought

"That's fine. Another galleon says they split the day after the Ball." She said. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? Who's going to be dumping who?" She asked her best friend and Dany shrugged.

"I don't know but I can almost guarantee that they'll split the day after. Call it a hunch." She said. Everyone nodded.

"Alright, two galleons on them making it to the Yule Ball, another galleon on them splitting the day after." Marlene said and everyone nodded in agreement. "Cheers, ladies." She laughed and they all finished their butterbeers.

"We better start heading back to the castle." Lily said and everyone nodded before collecting their things and starting the trek back to Hogwarts.

They were walking back into the castle when all of a sudden Brady Harris appeared. Lily knew that he had been helping Dany with charms (legitimately helping, not like Tasha Norton asking Sirius for "help" in Third Year) and Lily personally thought that he might have a thing for her best friend. He was certainly hot, Lily thought. He had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and was Quidditch captain. He smiled at Dany on his way by.

"Hey, Dany." He said with a smile and she smiled back.

"Hey, Brady. How are you?" She asked easily. Lily realized that she had never actually seen the two talk for any longer than maybe five seconds.

"I'm good, I'm good. Yourself?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I'm alright. We're just headed back from Hogsmeade; we were dress shopping for the Ball." She said and he nodded.

"Yeah, actually can I talk to you for a second?" He said and she nodded and they walked a few feet away from the other girls, just out of earshot. Marlene, Alice, and Lily all exchanged looks.

"What do you think they're saying?" Marlene whispered.

"Maybe it's about Charms or something." Alice said and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Honestly Alice, where's your sense of romance?" Lily said and Alice shrugged.

"What are we all looking at?" James said suddenly from behind the girls. It was James, Remus, Sirius, and Sirius' girlfriend Kimberly.

"Brady Harris and Dany are talking. Now shh." Marlene said, waving a hand and concentrating on the two talking. Brady said something and Dany, whose back was to them, nodded. He walked away and she walked back to her friends.

"What did he want?" Marlene asked eagerly. Lily noticed her friend's face was slightly red.

"He asked you to the Ball, didn't he?" Lily asked excitedly and Dany nodded.

"What did you say?" Alice asked.

"I said yes." She said quietly with a smile. All three girls started squealing. The three guys and Kimberly looked like they wanted to claw their ears off. Dany, for her part, looked embarrassed by all of the attention being thrown onto her.

"Seriously?" Lily asked. She was so excited for her friend; she deserved someone who actually liked her as more than a friend. As much as Lily endorsed a Sirius/Dany relationship, she also thought her friend was long overdue to move on a little bit.

"Seriously." Dany said, looking like she was caught under a spotlight. She clearly didn't like the attention that she was getting at the moment. Lily glanced at Sirius, Remus, and James and they didn't look particularly thrilled. It would be understandable that James automatically wouldn't like this; he didn't want anyone of the opposite gender near his Godsister at school except for him, Rhaegar, Sirius, Remus, and Frank (even Peter's presence was frowned upon sometimes). But Sirius and Remus both looked unhappy with this development too; Lily reasoned that Sirius was pissed because he probably liked Dany but Remus was what confused her. He had no skin in the proverbial game and he had nothing to gain or lose from this, yet he still looked like someone had just told him that he had detention for the next month. That wasn't good.

* * *

Kimberly O'Cleary was possibly the blandest human being on the face of the planet. Sirius had come to this conclusion halfway through their Hogsmeade visit when she continued to talk about different colors of dresses in the Three Broomsticks. He idly wondered if she ever stopped talking and if she'd be less annoying if he was drunk. Then he had wondered when the next Quidditch match was. Next week maybe?

"Sirius?" She said and he looked at her, starting to listen again at the sound of his name.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, nothing you just looked weird for a second. Well we better be going; it's getting late." She said and he checked the time. She was right; it was getting late enough that dinner was on the horizon. They left the pub and immediately ran into James and Remus.

"Sirius! Hey man, how was your day?" James said. Sirius was incredibly relieved to see his friends. Their heads weren't full of air, thankfully. "Oh, hey Kimberly." He added on. Kimberly, who refused to go by Kim, smiled.

"It was alright. How about you two?" He asked as all four of them started to walk back up to the castle.

"It was a good one, I've gotta be honest. We raided Zonko's again. It's a beautiful thing. You still need to restock after this summer?" Remus said and Sirius nodded. He had yet to replenish his dungbomb supply after hiding them all over his parents' house.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to do that." He said and James clapped him on the back.

"I figured. We've got you covered, no worries." He said and they entered the castle. "Hey, is that Lily?" James said abruptly and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yes James that's Lily. She's with Marlene and Alice, you know they're friends right?" He said sarcastically.

"Wait if they're all right here…where's Dany?" Remus asked and they got their answer as soon as they got closer. Dany was off to the side, talking to Brady Harris.

"Is that Brady Harris?" Kimberly said suddenly.

"Yeah, I think it is. I didn't know they knew each other." Remus said. James nodded.

"I think he helps her out with Charms sometimes…she said she feels bad always asking Lily for help and he offered one day." James said as they walked toward the girls. Dany and Brady were still out of hearing range. Lily, Alice, and Marlene weren't too far away to hear though.

"Honestly Alice, where's your sense of romance?" Sirius heard Lily asking her friend. Alice didn't seem to be swayed by this comment at all.

"What are we all looking at?" James asked them, even though it was very obvious what they were staring at. Apparently Big Brother James was taking over.

"Brady Harris and Dany are talking. Now shh." Marlene said, waving a hand at them, clearly wanting to watch them and hoping to catch what they were saying. The only thing Sirius could even remotely glean from the conversation was Dany had nodded, her head visibly moving from behind. She walked back over to her girlfriends as he left the castle.

"What did he want?" Marlene asked her white-haired friend. Dany didn't answer right away, something that Sirius found kind of disconcerting.

"He asked you to the Ball, didn't he?" Lily asked, clearly trying to read her best friend's face. Dany nodded in confirmation.

"What did you say?" Alice asked. And Dany pushed a strand of hair out of her face, looking kind of embarrassed at all of the excited attention being thrown her way.

"I said yes." She said quietly with a smile. Sirius fought the urge to shake her by the shoulders and tell her how bad of an idea that was. Even if he was speaking objectively and he didn't have a thing for her, it was still a horrible idea. The guy was bad news.

"Seriously?" Lily asked. And Dany smiled again and Sirius could have sworn that her eyes flitted to James for a second before answering her friend. Apparently James had been holding out information about this.

"Seriously." Dany said and the other three girls squealed again and pulled her away, probably to their room to talk all about it.

"Well that was exciting." Kimberly said absently. "Well, I better go back to my common room. I'd like to put these bags down before dinner." She said and quickly left.

"Does anyone else think that that's an _awful_ idea?" Remus asked no one in particular. James and Sirius both raised their hands silently. "Alright, just checking."

"So James, how much did you know about Brady asking her out?" Sirius asked and James shrugged.

"Not much…I know Lily thought that he was going to ask her out. I talked to Dany about it once and she said that she might say yes if it ever happened because of—" James abruptly stopped and looked alarmed.

"Because of what?" Sirius prompted. James shook his head.

"I'm not saying. She talks to me in confidence that I'm not going to spill her secrets everywhere."

"Seriously? Have you ever actually _not_ told us something, James? You have a big mouth and you tell us essentially everything. I think we hear 'I'm not supposed to tell anyone this but…' like everyday." Sirius countered. James shook his head again.

"Sorry guys, she was my sister long before you were my friends. You don't get to pull that card on this one." He said and it was abundantly clear that James had absolutely no intention of saying anything else on the matter. "I _will_ say that I don't approve at all; Rhaegar's going to be pissed off too. Like the fact he's a player isn't bad enough, he's a year older than her too. And that's if the news doesn't get to Daniel. I wonder how he'll take the fact that his darling baby girl is dating." James said and they all nodded in agreement as they entered the common room.

"So Sirius, to change this to a less depressing topic, are you thinking about keeping Kimberly around for the Ball?" Remus asked and Sirius shrugged. He hadn't really thought about it.

"I don't know, can't say I've thought about it…the real question is are you finally going to ask McKinnon out? You've been staring at her over breakfast, lunch, _and_ dinner for years. I think it's time, Remus." Sirius said and James nodded in agreement.

"He has a point."

"Guys…I'm not going to ask her out. First of all, she doesn't like me in that way and secondly, even if she did I don't want to get her involved in my…furry little problem." Remus said. Sirius hit his friend over the head as they walked into their room, throwing their stuff down on the floor.

"I really don't think McKinnon cares. They all know about you and funnily enough, none of them care. Marlene sees you as Remus, not some raving mad monster that's out to kill her. But then again, that's probably because you _aren't_ a raving mad monster that's out to kill her. You're a guy that has a chronic health condition and it's not your fault and I really think that you need to give yourself a break sometimes. I personally think that she likes you too, if that helps at all." James said, clearly getting ready to lecture. "Stop me now because if you don't, I'll be going all night." He added on and Sirius interrupted.

"Alright, I for one would like to avoid hearing James' voice all night so how about we just agree to disagree for now? We're revisiting this later, Remus." Sirius said and Remus looked like he was going to protest but Sirius gave him a look that said 'shut up unless you want to hear James run his mouth all night'. Remus changed his mind and just nodded. No one wanted to hear James' voice for that long except maybe James.

"So, Sirius…how are you taking this whole 'the girl I really like is kind of dating someone else' thing?" Remus asked instead of mentioning Marlene again. Sirius glared at him.

"Well it just happened like twenty minutes ago so nothing has actually happened so I can't really say…besides, that's her choice to make. I can't stop her and even if I could, I probably wouldn't except to point her attention to someone that wasn't a total jackass." He said with a shrug. Both of his friends stared at him. "What?" He asked defensively.

"Whatever you say man…whatever you say." James said as he shook his head, letting the conversation topic of girls rest, at least for now.

As it turned out, Quidditch was the following week. It was Hufflepuff versus Slytherin and Sirius felt rather bad for Hufflepuff. They were a dreadful team and generally good people; Slytherin on the other hand were dreadful people and a generally good team.

With the Yule Ball only two weeks away, Kimberly was starting to push for him to go with her but he had yet to do anything about it. He still didn't know if he wanted to deal with her for another two weeks at the very least. No one other than Dany had been asked to the Ball and he got the impression that it was going to remain that way. For her part, Dany was very much the same except for the fact that he saw her talking to Brady more often and one day her friends had coaxed him into sitting with them at lunch. It had been really awkward and no one cared to revisit that experience anytime soon. The awkwardness had probably sprung from the fact that all of the guys knew that he was an asshole.

As he walked down to breakfast with James the day of the match that he wasn't playing in, he saw that Dany was, yet again, talking to Brady just before the Great Hall. He said something and she smiled and laughed a little. He smiled and she waved before walking off just in front of him and James, apparently having missed that they were right behind her.

"Should we tell her?" Sirius asked James. James shook his head.

"I don't really see the point. I don't think she'd believe us at this point. If you want to take the risk of pissing her off, that's up to you." He said before sitting down next to Marlene who easily started talking to him. Sirius thought about what James had said as he sat down next to Dany. Would she believe him if he told her that the guy she had just been asked out by was a dick? Would she take it on blind faith that someone who at this point has probably been nothing but nice was a complete asshole? Maybe. Honestly he didn't know if she'd buy that but he also felt really bad about letting her obliviously start dating him. "Dude, I think you're biased." James said suddenly from across the table. Sirius looked up at him.

"What?" he said and James raised an eyebrow.

"You heard me." He said before returning to his conversation with Marlene, who apparently had no problem with James just randomly making nonsensical comments to his friend. He _was_ probably biased on whom his friend dated, truth be told. But that didn't stop him from telling her anyways.

They were walking down to the Quidditch Pitch. Kimberly was nowhere to be found, probably because Hufflepuff was playing and she had a good friend on the team or something like that. He didn't really remember the details. Sirius fell into step with Dany and she smiled at him.

"You know Brady's a complete ass, right?" He said before he could stop himself.

"Excuse me?" She said, looking surprised and not overly thrilled with this turn in events.

"You heard me. He's bad news on legs. Hey, I'm just saying that you should at least know before you start dating him for real." He said quickly and it became very apparent that James had been right.

"Please, elaborate. I'm _dying_ to hear this." She said, obviously annoyed. That hadn't gone over well.

"He's just bad news. Like _really_ bad news." Sirius said and he realized that he had no definitive proof except for talk and a generally bad feeling about him.

"He's 'bad news'? That's really specific Sirius, thank you. Besides, it's not like your exactly Mr. Stable Relationship. I don't think you're in a position to talk about anyone's relationships." She snapped.

"Last I checked I'm not a raving lunatic that likes to rule over every aspect of my life with an iron fist. The kid's a prick." Sirius retorted and Dany shook her head.

"Do you have a legitimate problem with Brady or are you just being an asshole? Because I can't really tell." She asked and Sirius looked surprised by the question.

"Look, I'm just saying—"

"No, you're not saying anything. You don't even know him." She said and he realized that this was quickly going downhill.

"And neither do you." He snapped and she looked surprised.

"What's your deal? My dating life has _nothing_ to do with you so back off." She snapped at him.

I just don't want to watch you get fucked over by him. I just thought I'd give you some heads up, as a friend." He said.

"Well first of all, no one's making you watch. Secondly, considering that this is the first time that we've actually spoken in over two weeks, oh I'm sorry _three_ weeks, I don't think that you're in any position to give me advice at all, let alone as a friend." She hissed and he was taken aback. They had never actually fought before and he was surprised at how venomous she sounded.

"He's going to use you, just like he always does with girls; you're just too naïve to realize it." He snapped, unable to help himself. It became immediately apparent that he had said something _very_ wrong. He saw the shock on her face; she hadn't been expecting that to come out of his mouth. But then the shock turned quickly to anger, the likes of which he wasn't sure he had ever seen before. When his parents got mad, they got violent; he could handle violence but not the frigid look she was pinning him down with. If Sirius was being honest, it was fucking terrifying. He had never _really_ feared the notorious Masters wrath but he was getting a taste of it for the first time and was quickly was realizing why the family struck fear into people's hearts.

"You're such a hypocrite. I'd do some self-reflection before you warn me off from a guy because you think he's going to use me; you know what they say about throwing stones in glass houses, Sirius. Go play with Kenzie…or is it Angeline? Never mind, I meant _Kimberly_. My mistake." She said coldly and walked ahead, catching up with Lily. He saw her say something to the redhead, who quickly turned around to glare at him. He was _so_ fucked.

* * *

James had heard Sirius and Dany's argument and as soon as Sirius had told her that she was being used, James knew he had finally gone too far. Dany was more tolerant of Sirius' bluntness than most but that was too much for even her. Her voice had turned cold and James didn't have to turn around to know her eyes were the same and her face was closed off. James also knew her, and Daniel, well enough to know that she was staring him down with the Masters Family Glare as she threw nasty comment after nasty comment at Sirius.

Suddenly, Dany walked by James and fell into step with Lily. She didn't bother to look at her Godbrother but he didn't miss the clearly hurt look on her face. She could put on a good show, she could put the fear of God into someone, but she was still human and that had still hurt. Judging by the look on her face that James glimpsed as she passed by, that had _really_ hurt. Lily listened to what her friend said and she raised her eyebrows. The ginger turned around she glared at Sirius, looking like she wanted to go back and claw his eyes out with her fingernails. James glanced back at Sirius too and he looked like most people did after being verbally assaulted by Dany or one of her relatives; he looked like he wanted to pee his pants he was so scared.

The two girls walked ahead, Marlene and Alice walked over to them and Lily quickly said something to them both. James noticed that the two other girls started to surround his Godsister. The four girls walked into the stadium and didn't look back.

"James, if you say 'I told you so', I'll bloody kill you." Sirius said as James turned around to talk to him. James held his hands up in surrender.

"You just had your ass handed to you by Dany; I'm not going to rub salt in that wound." He said and Sirius shook his head.

"Yeah, I take it you heard that." He said and James nodded.

"I heard. It actually wasn't going that bad until you called her naïve and said she was being used. That's an insult to her pride. Incidentally, she has a lot of that so I wouldn't suggest taking a swing at it again." James said and Sirius shrugged.

"Please, at this rate she'll probably never talk to me again so I wouldn't worry too much about it." He said and James disagreed. Dany would freeze him out for a while, anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on how pissed she was, but she'd forgive him eventually.

"I wouldn't be so pessimistic…now you've got to tell me, what's it like being on the receiving end of that? I can't say that I've ever been in that position." James said and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It was bloody terrifying, to be honest. I never really believed all the hype about the Masters' temper but I do now. Holy shit I thought she was going to kill me. You didn't see her face, Man; it was the face of someone who would remorselessly hand down a death sentence." He said as they entered the stadium. James thought about the face he had seen as she had walked by and thought that it was the face of someone who would hand down a death sentence but allow that life to rest on her conscious for the rest of her own life.

A week and a half later, it looked like this might very well be the end of Dany's friendship with Sirius. She was still livid and he had learned his lesson about trying to talk to her a few days after the fight. He had tried to talk to her and she had glared at him like she wanted him to drop dead right then and walked past, not even bothering to insult him.

Lily was taking as aloof of a stance as her friend was, debatably more so. While Dany was still on speaking terms with everyone _but_ Sirius, Lily no longer spoke to Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, or Frank. James spoke to Dany about her friend's behavior one day and Dany had simply smiled a little.

"Lily's a loyal friend." She had said quietly in response. Marlene and Alice were just as pissed as Lily was. James had to give it to those girls; the level of solidarity was incredible. He suspected that any of them could have just walked up, said that she hated someone, and they all would unquestioningly hate the person too.

James was practicing charms during class and was partnered off with Sirius, three days before the Yule Ball. Lily was trying to teach Dany how to do the charm but apparently they quickly gave up and started idly talking.

"Seriously dude, how much longer could she possibly be pissed?" Sirius asked, following his friend's gaze to Dany and Lily.

"It's been a little more than a week, it hasn't been long at all. I've seen her give her own brother the cold shoulder for longer than this. Those are always hard arguments to end…they're both too proud to apologize first. Daniel and Rhea have their hands full when that happens." James responded. Sirius looked unenthused with that answer.

"Great. You know she's awfully vengeful for such a nice person." Sirius commented and James rolled his eyes. Sirius had been bitching nonstop for the past week, ever since he realized that this wasn't just going to go away overnight.

"She told you almost a year ago what Daniel always says about kindness…be nice until it's time to be mean and if you're going to be mean, destroy them. She took it to heart, man." James said and Sirius looked annoyed but resigned.

"Yeah, I hear you…I just didn't know she'd get _that_ pissed. I mean I knew she wouldn't exactly like it but holy hell it was like I had just told her that she was going to die alone or something." He said and James rolled his eyes.

"No one ever told you that sticks and stones—"

"May break my bones but words will never hurt me? Yeah James, everyone's heard that."

"My family always says it as 'sticks and stones may break bones but words hurt the soul'. And Daniel always says to taste your words before you spit them out. How do you think that really made her feel? I mean turn that around and think about how you would have liked hearing that from her."

"I would have wanted to know what I just told her." Sirius protested.

"Mate, I know you're not really in contact with a lot of girls that have never dated but I am so let me enlighten you. She was just asked out by the first time, by one of the most desired guys in the castle no less, and then you tell her that the guy is a huge prick? She wasn't going to take it well because it kind of makes it sound like that's the _only_ kind of guy she'll ever attract. Not to mention that she's been used her entire life by people trying to cozy up to her family; it's kind of a touchy subject. She really craves people that like her for her, not her family." James said.

"Yeah, I didn't mean it like that though. Besides, I'm sure lots of nice guys like her." Sirius said and James shook his head.

"I know you didn't mean it that way but I'm just telling you what she probably got out of that. You might be okay with only ever being with a girl for a few weeks at a time but most girls aren't okay with that; they want something real and they want someone to treat them well. It's what she's hoping for with Brady and telling her anything different won't go over well." James tried to explain.

"Okay first of all, when did you get so perceptive? And second, are you saying that my relationships aren't real?" Sirius asked.

"Alright well I just know Dany extraordinarily well and I know how she thinks. And no Sirius, those relationships couldn't be more fake unless you started paying them." He sighed just as class ended. They started to pack up their things. "I seriously can't believe that you're taking Kimberly to the Yule Ball." He added on and Sirius shrugged.

"Might as well. Maybe she'll be more interesting in a dress." He said and James fought the urge to take him by the shoulders and tell him that he was _never_ going to get the girl he wanted if he kept up this attitude and course of action.

"That's cheery. You're a real romantic, Sirius. You're the reason girls think that chivalry is dead." He commented and they started to walk towards Care of Magical Creatures. Dany and Lily were in front of them by about fifteen feet and they were soon joined by Marlene and Alice, both of whom came out of another corridor and were greeted with waves and smiles. Lily pulled on a lock of Dany's hair gently, as if she was talking about it. Dany shrugged and Marlene and Alice both started talking excitedly, that much was apparent even from so far away.

"What can I say? They can open doors themselves; I'm not going out of the way for any of them." He said back dryly and James once again fought the urge to tell him that the whores he was with may not care but anyone who was worth a real relationship would.


	15. Something's Gotta Give

_Disclaimer: Yeah... *tears*_

* * *

Wake me up  
Say enough is enough  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give  
Oh  
Pull me out  
Of this sinking town  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give

~ _Something's Gotta Give_ , All Time Low

* * *

Dany was staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, wondering if she _actually_ looked as good as Lily insisted. It wasn't like last New Years when she had felt like she was doing her namesake justice; she was pretty the first Danilynn Charlotte wouldn't have been particularly impressed with the simple dress that she was wearing, let alone the average silver heels.

"Dany, give it a rest. You look freaking phenomenal so calm down and smile a little. It won't hurt, I promise." Marlene commented as she glanced in the bathroom. All four of them were ready except for Lily, who was still deliberating on earrings. Dany smiled at her friend. They had been incredible through her argument with Sirius; they had never waivered and Marlene and Alice, who she had only vaguely told what had happened never questioned it and were steadfastly against anything that had to do with him. She felt awful for cutting him off like she had but she just didn't have it in her to take a few of the things he had said lying down.

"Yeah, I know…I just can't say that I'm overly excited about this dress is all." She admitted to her friend. Marlene smiled and pulled her away from the mirror.

"You'll look beautiful in anything you wear, Dan. Seriously you could be in a burlap sack and still look like royalty." She said and Dany hugged her quickly.

"Thanks Marles…really. You're an incredible person." She said and Marlene smiled before Lily started yelling at everyone to get going. The girls walked down to the common room, taking care to not trip in their heels, and were met with the completely unwelcome sight of their Fourth Year male counterparts walking down their stairs at the same time.

"Well this is awkward." Alice said quietly and all three other girls nodded in agreement.

"Do we say anything?" Marlene whispered and Dany shrugged.

"I'm going to say hi to James but that's it for me, I think." She whispered and Lily nodded in acknowledgment. It turned out that she didn't have to go say hello to James because he walked to her first.

"Aw, little Dany. You look beautiful." He said and she smiled.

"Thanks…you know you don't clean up too badly either. Still can't control that hair?" She responded and James shrugged.

"It's a force of nature. I've given up the good fight." He said and she smiled again. James hugged her and she hugged him back tightly before waving goodbye to him and leaving with her friends. Lily fell into step with her, Marlene and Alice walking in front of them.

"So, how is it that you can still talk to Potter even after Sirius—?"

"James was my brother long before he was Sirius' friend. Family first, Lils. Family always comes first." She responded and Lily nodded before putting an arm around her. They walked like that for a bit until the reached the Entrance Hall.

"I see your date; I have to say that you have some pretty hot arm candy." She whispered to her friend and Dany laughed. She found Brady's blonde hair pretty quickly. Lily was right.

"Yeah, I guess I do…" She said quietly back and Lily winked before pushing her towards her date. Dany walked over and he smiled.

"Dany. You look fantastic." He said and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back.

"Thanks. You know I like the dress robes. It's a nice change." She said and they walked into the Great Hall together. "Oh wow, this is beautiful." She murmured and it _was_ beautiful. Everything was silver and bright.

"I forgot that this is your first Yule Ball. You seem older than you actually are most of the time, to be honest. Well you should know in advance then that someone will inevitably dump a bottle of firewhiskey into the punch bowl within the next two hours." He said and she laughed.

"Oh, I think I'll be avoiding that then. A drunk Dany isn't a good one." She commented and he chuckled.

"What? Are you an angry drunk?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No, I'm an emotional drunk. I usually end up crying in some capacity. My friends try their best to keep me sober in public places. It's a wise choice on their part." She said and he laughed at that.

"I'll keep that in mind…I would suggest avoiding any form of drink after about ten then." He said and she nodded.

"I think that would probably be for the best."

"I see your friends are staring." He said suddenly and Dany looked around. Lily, Marlene, and Alice were all staring quite obviously.

"Oh that's embarrassing. I'm sorry. They're so nosy but I love them to death." She said and looked at them and raised an eyebrow. All three quickly looked away.

"No, it's fine. Do you want to go talk to them?" He asked and she looked surprised.

"Are you sure you want to meet them? They're kind of…well they like to ask questions." She said and he nodded.

"Sure. You seem like you'd have pretty good taste in friends." He said and they walked over to the three girls.

"Uh guys, this is Brady. Brady, this is Lily, Marlene, and Alice." She said and all three girls smiled.

"Oh please, me and Al are just the average level friends. It's Lily that's verging on sisterhood." Marlene commented and, surprisingly, Brady laughed.

"Does that I mean Lily's permission to date her sister?" He asked and Lily looked like she approved of that idea. Marlene caught Dany's eye and mouthed 'he seems nice'.

"I think it does." Dany said with a laugh. "So, do I have your approval Lils?" Lily looked like she was deliberating.

"I don't know yet. But it appears that your brother definitely has some definitive ideas on that topic. Here he comes." She said and Dany turned around to see not James, but Rhaegar.

"Rae." She said and he smiled at her.

"Dany. You look beautiful…I mean not up to your usual standard, but still beautiful." He said with a wink and Dany threw her hands up in the air.

"I told you, Lillian. I told you that I wasn't on top of my game tonight." She said and Lily put her hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, I was just giving you _my_ opinion." She said defensively. Dany glanced back at her brother, who was staring intently at her date.

"So girls if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a couple of minutes with my sister's date." He said and they all nodded and walked off, leaving Brady with her much taller brother, who looked completely impassive.

"He seems nice, Dan." Lily said as they linked arms.

"Yeah, I mean he's never been anything but nice to me so that's a good sign I guess. I don't know you guys, I'm kind of flying blind on this." She said and the other girls nodded in agreement; none of them had ever dated before either.

"Hey guys, I know that we're not really talking about him at the moment because Dany's rightfully pissed but I seriously think that we need to give Dan her money." Marlene said and everyone looked at her.

"What are you on about?" Lily asked and Marlene pointed towards the door. Sirius had just walked in with his friends and Kimberly. "Damn, he actually brought her. Danilynn, you get your six galleons now but we're holding off on the second bet. I still don't think they're going to break up _tomorrow_." Lily commented and all three girls handed her two galleons, which she put in her purse victoriously.

"I'm phenomenal at this…I think I found my calling: professional gambling." She said with a grin.

"He looks kind of bored, doesn't he?" Alice asked absently and they all looked at her. "What? Sorry but it looks like Sirius wants to jump of a bridge. That's the face of a man being bored to death." She justified and they all looked over at him. He did indeed look like he was on the verge of knocking himself out he was so bored.

"It's been like twenty minutes since the ball started. If he's bored already, that's the sign of an unhealthy relationship." Marlene laughed. Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

Lily honestly thought that Dany looked lovely but even she had to admit that she didn't look like she had the last time she saw her friend in a dress. Last New Years, she had been smiling and seemed so happy that she was almost glowing. Now, she looked good, incredibly pretty, but Lily always thought the word was more than skin-deep and she just didn't seem _happy_ enough to be beautiful. She hadn't been completely happy since she had her falling out with Sirius almost three weeks ago. Like hell she would _ever_ say that out loud. Lily had reservations about saying anything of that nature to her friend, but her brother didn't. Rhaegar had called her on it though; Lily supposed that was the luxury blood siblings exercised.

Brady seemed like a nice enough guy, Lily thought as they all finished dinner. He had opted to sit with them instead of his own friends. He had claimed that they all thought that it was only right and had given him their blessing on that. The rest of the ball passed rather uneventfully, the only thing really coming out of it was that Dany was now official with Brady Harris.

The next morning, Lily woke up only to see that Dany was already awake and writing a letter. Lily got out of bed and her friend smiled.

"Hey Lils." She said before putting her quill down. "So do your feet hurt as much as mine do?" She asked and Lily walked experimentally and winced.

"Yeah, they hurt alright. Damn I don't know how you do this all the time with your family." She said as she tried to hobble to the bathroom. "Where are Marles and Alice?" She asked as she walked back out of the bathroom.

"They're already up and down at breakfast. Oh, and I'm looking forward to collecting your money, just by the way." She said with a grin and Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing. Dany had an uncanny ability to guess Sirius' dating habits, at least she had when they had been speaking; unfortunately for everyone, they had still been on pretty good terms when the bet had been set. Lily guessed that she would indeed be collecting money sometime today.

"So confident, Danilynn. What if you lose?" She asked and Dany laughed.

"Then I'll be handing out galleons…but alas, Lillian I won't be losing on this lovely Sunday morning." She said with a grin as the two girls walked down to breakfast.

"Whatever you say…so are you and Brady like official yet?" She asked and Dany nodded.

"I think so. I mean he asked me to Hogsmeade next time we go last night. That won't be until after break though." She said and Lily grinned. If anyone deserved a cute and seemingly kind boyfriend, it was Dany. She'd had a crush on Sirius for way too long. As much as Lily had hoped that something would come of that, it wasn't looking good right now. Being used was a touchy subject for her and he had played off it spectacularly, albeit it was probably unknowingly, and Dany had been pretty cut up about it for about a week and so Lily was still pissed at the Black boy.

"That's _exciting_. Oh gosh, we just lost you to your boyfriend, didn't we?" She asked and Dany shook her head and laughed.

"Oh please, like I'd ever put him over you guys. You can live without boys, sometimes it's easier than living _with_ them, but you can't make it without your sisters." She said and bumped her shoulder into Lily's as they entered the Great Hall. Lily tried her best not to choke up. That had been so unexpected, and it had caught her so off guard, and because of that it had been able to hit her right in her feelings. They sat down next to Marlene and Alice and they all started talking over breakfast about the looming New Years Party. Suddenly James, Remus, Frank, and Peter walked in and Sirius was noticeably absent. Dany grinned. "I told you so." She said and everyone groaned. Damn, she was always right.

"He might have just slept in, Dany. No one's handing you money yet." Marlene said, although she sounded like she knew that she would be handing her money over. Fifteen minutes later, Sirius walked in without Kimberly. Dany grinned but no one said anything, continuing to watch. Another five minutes later, Kimberly walked in with her head down and spoke to a few girls at the Hufflepuff table before they all left again.

"Pay up, ladies." Dany said and they all silently handed her money, too impressed with her guess to even protest or complain. Suddenly Brady walked over and smiled.

"Hello girls." He said and they all greeted him and he kissed Dany quickly.

"Hey, Brady. You want to sit down?" Marlene asked and he shook his head.

"I can't, I have Quidditch practice in fifteen minutes. I just came by to say hello to my amazing girlfriend and her wonderful friends." He said before kissing his girlfriend and walking out of the Hall.

"Dany, I love him. If you weren't dating him, I'd be going after him myself." Marlene said and Dany smiled.

"Yeah…he's pretty great, right?" She said and everyone nodded in agreement; they certainly all liked him. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Sirius talking to Potter, who seemed irritated with his friend. Sirius said something defensively and James stood up and shook his head. They were clearly starting to argue.

"Hey guys, check it out." Lily said and nodded towards them. Everyone turned her attention to the bickering boys. James looked downright frustrated and Sirius looked like he didn't want to hear it. Both were standing on opposing sides of the table. James gestured down the table and snapped something before walking out of the Hall. Sirius seemed annoyed and followed him out. Remus, Frank, and Peter looked like they had no idea what had just happened. Lily felt the same way; Potter and Sirius _never_ fought. Ever.

"What the hell was that?" Alice asked no one specifically.

"No clue. If James isn't back in a bit I might try to go find him." Dany said before taking another bite of her eggs. Lily thought that trying to find Potter would only end in running into Sirius accidentally but she didn't say anything about it; Dany wasn't an idiot and she could definitely hold her own against him. Another fifteen minutes passed and Dany looked concerned and stood up. "I'm going to go look for James…he might act like he couldn't give a shit about anything but he's probably not too happy after that. I'll meet you girls back in the common room." She said and walked out of the Great Hall in search of her Godbrother.

* * *

Sirius had just been dumped. He had just been dumped _again_. Not like he could really blame Kimberly, he hadn't been a shining example of how men should treat their dates last night. He walked into the Great Hall and sat down across from James.

"Hey, man." James said through a mouthful of cereal. Sirius said hello back absently as he watched Brady walk over to Dany and her friends. He kissed her and then spoke to all of them briefly before kissing her again and leaving. He walked by them on his way out of the Great Hall; Sirius guessed that he probably had Quidditch practice or something. "You really should just apologize to her." James said suddenly and Sirius redirected his attention to his best friend.

"For what? I didn't do anything wrong." He said.

"That doesn't matter. If you really want to get back in her life, I'd consider apologizing. I'm just saying as not only your friend, but as her Godbrother." He replied and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to apologize for absolutely no reason. If anything she should be saying sorry for calling me a hypocrite." He said and James suddenly stood up and shook his head.

"You really don't see it, do you? You _are_ being hypocritical. That advice you gave her? That could have been anyone else talking _about you_ , Sirius. I know you don't want to admit it, but you're using those girls and that's fine, I don't care, that's your choice; but you can't tell her to stay away from him when you do the same thing." James said and Sirius stood up too. Where the hell had this come from?

"I do _not_ treat them the same way he treats girls. He can barely stay with one at a time." Sirius snapped. He vaguely saw Remus put his head in his hands.

"Okay fine, so you don't cheat on them. But you might as well with how fast you jump between them. And I agree with you, she needs to stay away from him, but it's too late for that so I think the least you could do is go down there," James gestured in their general direction, he could have been pointing at the whole table it was so vague, "and apologize so when her relationship implodes, you can at least be there to help her up again; my sister's a romantic at heart and I promise you that a breakup will be hard on her. So do your damn job as her friend and be there to help her up when she falls. It's what she'd do for you." James hissed before walking out of the Great Hall. Fuck.

"He's right you know." Remus said quietly and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Remus. Thank you so much." Sirius said before walking out of the Hall, making sure to go a different direction than James had. He realized a little while later that his feet had taken him to the corridor by Transfiguration. He paused and leaned against the wall. He knew Dany was prideful, she always had been, and so was he. Had he been wrong to tell her that her boyfriend was an ass? No. Had he been wrong to get mean? Maybe. She definitely hadn't been a saint in that conversation either though. If he was being honest they were probably both in the wrong and both needed to apologize.

As if the universe had heard his thoughts, Dany suddenly appeared around a corner, about ten feet away. She looked at him and looked like she was going to turn around to go somewhere else.

"Hey, Dany?" He asked cautiously. She paused.

"What?" She said, not sounding particularly friendly. He tried to walk towards her and she didn't do anything; she just stood where she was, watching until he was close enough to hold a conversation.

"We need to talk." He said and she looked like she was going to tell him off. "Okay before you yell at me for being an asshole, just hear me out, alright?" he added quickly and she nodded. "I know that I'm not really in any place to criticize other guys for using girls. And I realize that your dating life has nothing to do with me and that wasn't my place at all to interfere with that, so I'm sorry for trying to make it my business. And I'm also really sorry for the naïve comment; that was just uncalled for." He said quietly and she smiled a little. That was a positive sign.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for calling you a womanizer…and I actually liked Angie; I shouldn't have brought her into that. And sorry for the 'you're not a friend' comment. That was a little extreme…it just kind of came out." She said softly and he nodded. She really did look sorry; maybe he wasn't the only one that hadn't enjoyed the three-week-long feud.

"Thanks. So can we just agree to disagree on your boyfriend, at least for now?" He asked and she nodded and really smiled. It was the first one he had seen from her since they had fought.

"Yeah, I think we can do that…I really _did_ miss you, you know." She said quietly and he smiled.

"I guess we're both just a little stubborn, huh?" He said and she laughed.

"Yeah, I think it's fair to say that that's an understatement. So you'll be glad to know that your ended relationship just won me nine galleons." She said as they slowly started to walk back towards the Great Hall, together.

"Did it really? Are you guys upping the bets or something?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No…it was two galleons as always. I was just the only one that thought Kimberly would make it to the Yule Ball. And then I put another galleon on you two splitting today and everyone bet against me." She said with a shrug. The girl was good, he had to admit; even he hadn't known that he was getting dumped today.

"Wow, that's a gutsy bet. I'm impressed." He said and she grinned.

"I told Lily last night that I think I've found my calling in professional gambling." She answered and looked like she was on the verge of saying something but changed her mind.

"So I take it that you were looking for James, and not me." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah…he's probably somewhere in the castle with a wounded ego or something right now. What were you two fighting about?" She asked and then, judging by the look on her face, realized how invasive of a question that was. "Actually, I take that back. It's none of my business, it's just that you two _never_ fight." She said.

"No, it's fine. He was yelling at me to apologize for being the ass I am. That was it, really. And we fight more than you'd think, but it's just never in public." He said and she nodded quietly and stopped walking.

"I'm going this way…I told the girls I'd meet them in the common room. I'll see you later, okay?" She said and smiled quickly before walking off.

"Hey, Dan?" She turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Not everyone is trying to use you, I promise." He said and she smiled a little.

"Thanks…it's just hard to see sometimes." She responded before rounding a corner and vanishing from his view. He was so relieved he wanted to cry. That would put an instant end to his argument with James, which was just a bonus to the fact that he and Dany had managed to bury the proverbial hatchet. Sirius continued to wander for a while and he soon ran into James, who was looking out a window overlooking the grounds.

"Hey, Brother." Sirius said quietly and James looked up.

"Look, Sirius I don't want to lecture you right—"

"It's over. Seriously, calm down and please stop lecturing me. I fixed it; it's over. If I never hear you lecture me again, it'll be too soon." Sirius said and James raised an eyebrow.

"You apologized to her? The words 'I'm sorry' actually came out of your mouth?" James asked incredulously.

"Twice actually, so can we all move on?" He said and James grinned.

"She essentially owns you…damn, she doesn't even know it, either." James teased him and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah that's super nice of you James. Your welcome for taking your advice." He retorted and James laughed.

"You should be kissing my ass for telling you to apologize, mate. So how did that conversation go?" He asked and Sirius shrugged.

"Not bad…I ran into her near McGonagall's class and I said sorry and then she said sorry and then we made up and now it's over." He said and James looked like he thought that was far from a satisfactory answer but he said nothing about it.

"Well, I'm glad that it's over and you two have metaphorically kissed and made up…unless you literally kissed her." James said with a smirk. Sirius flipped him off.

"Fuck you, James. You're just pissed that any kind of headway you made with Lily was essentially just destroyed. Sorry about that, by the way; I didn't know that they'd all react so…intensely to what happened." He said and James looked rather put out but waved a hand.

"Yeah, I didn't think that they'd all get so pissed either. It's the way girls are though, if one of them hates you, they _all_ hate you. And it's okay, about Lily I mean. She'll come around eventually…maybe. Unless it just wasn't meant to be." He said sadly and Sirius raised an eyebrow. He had never heard James even consider giving up on Lily.

"Wow, that was unexpected. And since when do you believe in fated relationships?" He asked, incredulous. James shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just—I love her, there's no other way to put it, and she just doesn't want much of anything to do with me. Maybe I should start giving up on her…maybe Dany was right; you can't keep your life on hold for someone you'll never have." He said and Sirius looked at him sharply just as James' eyes widened; he clearly hadn't meant to say the last part out loud.

"Why would Dany say that? She loves you and Lily together." Sirius asked him and he got the impression that James was scrambling to come up with an answer that wasn't completely sketchy.

"Oh, uh she was talking about someone else. It just seemed to apply to the situation is all. She's a smart one, you know. And she's also a good listener. If you ever need someone to talk to, I strongly suggest her. Well, I just realized I have detention with McGonagall so I'll see you later. I'm glad you and Dan cleaned up all that bad blood." He said and quickly walked off in the opposite direction of Transfiguration.

Well that was strange. With nothing else to do, now that James had practically sprinted off in the completely wrong direction, he started to walk back to the common room. He walked through the portrait hole and was surprised, yet gladdened, to see Lily, Alice, and Marlene sitting with his friends (minus James, who was probably still hiding from him for some reason). They all looked up and smiled at him. Remus waved him over.

"Sirius, I think Lily has something she wants to say, now that no one else wants to kill you." He said and Sirius looked at Lily.

"Yeah, sorry for being a right bitch but she comes first and when she's mad, I'm mad." Lily said easily and Sirius shrugged. "She was pretty torn up for about a week and that didn't really help either." She added on and Sirius felt his stomach twinge.

"No, I get it. Her enemies are your enemies. It's solid logic, Evans." He said and Lily grinned. Even though Lily had a hard time standing James, she had always liked Sirius to some extent, or so Sirius always had the impression of.

"Alright, now that I've said sorry, you're allowed to sit down." She said and Sirius sat between Remus and Alice. Alice smiled a little and said "sorry" quietly. He really understood why they had all gotten pissed and didn't hold it against them. "Oh, and you should know that your dating habits are costing us money left and right." Lily added on and he laughed.

"Yeah, I heard…sorry, I can't control when I get dumped." He said and Lily shook her head slightly. Suddenly, Marlene looked up, obviously distracted and excited.

"It appears Quidditch practice is over." Marlene said quietly and the other two girls looked up and grinned before waving. Sirius, Remus, Frank, and Peter all turned around to see that Dany had just walked in, holding hands with Brady. Brady looked pretty at ease, but Dany looked uncomfortable. "Hey you two." Marlene said as Dany caught Sirius' eye and mouthed, "play nice" at him. He rolled his eyes but nodded. Dany sat down next to Lily and her boyfriend sat next to her. Marlene, Alice, and Lily were clearly friendly with him and none of the guys present knew what exactly to say.

"Hey guys. Lily, I see you're no longer trying to disembowel Sirius." Dany said with a grin and Lily laughed.

"We came to an understanding. It's a high maintenance job, being friends with you; he gets it. It's exhausting, to be honest. We should start a support group, Sirius. We can call it 'being friends with Dany is harder than you'd think' and of course you're all invited." Lily said and Sirius couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I think I can get on board with that…it really is harder than you'd think. Just so needy, Dan." Sirius said and Dany rolled her eyes but still smiled.

"Okay, I'm not that bad. I think Lily and James would be scrapping over who got to be president of that particular club…I don't know if James counts though, he's practically family." She said with a laugh.

"Oh, does that mean I'll be fighting _him_ ," Lily gestured to Sirius, "for the presidency? I'll take you down, Black. She was mine first." She said and everyone laughed. Sirius noticed that Brady had been quite silent the entire time, ever since he had said hello to the girls. He sat next to Dany, watching the conversation happen. Sirius realized that he probably had no idea what his girlfriend's friendships were like when they weren't all fighting with each other.

"Oh please Evans, I'd like to see you try…actually I take that back; we just finished fighting and I seriously don't want to be on the receiving end of the Lily Evans Glare for any longer. I mean don't get me wrong, it pales in comparison to Masters over there, but still." He said and she laughed.

"I reign victorious." The redhead said and Dany looked amused, watching them argue.

"My glare isn't that bad. I just…take after my dad, is all." She said defensively, looking for a partially true way to say that it wasn't terrifying.

"No, it's exactly that bad. And I don't doubt that you take after Daniel…I do _not_ want to be the idiot to cross him the wrong way. I don't have a desire to be tossed in Azkaban." He said and Dany shrugged.

"You're just lucky that I didn't tell him that we were fighting. He takes my feelings very seriously, you know." She said solemnly, even though she was clearly trying to not smile and failing. Sirius realized that he hadn't even thought of the repercussions of the fight in terms of her parents; her father could probably toss him into jail, if the mood struck him one day, for essentially no reason.

"Oh, I'm feeling very fortunate right now." He said sarcastically.

"See this is why I'm the better friend, Black. I don't have to live in fear of Daniel because _I_ don't do anything wrong." Lily threw in and everyone laughed.

"Oh shut up, Lily."

"I'm flattered you two, I didn't know that my high maintenance, needy, friendship was so sought after. It really warms my heart to know that I'm so loved." She said and Sirius noticed that Brady didn't look overly thrilled with this line of conversation. He wondered how they all put up with the constant presence of his girlfriends; for the first time he was getting a look at their perspective and found it kind of annoying.

* * *

James had practically run away from Sirius when he had caught that he had literally just quoted Dany talking about Sirius _to_ Sirius. Unfortunately, he realized a few minutes later, he had run in the wrong direction. He was absolutely busted unless Sirius had forgotten where Transfiguration was and hadn't noticed that James had run north instead of south. Whoops. James slowed to a much slower, more casual walk, and thought over his situation with Lily; what he had told Sirius was true. He didn't know how much longer he could keep waiting on her because it really seemed like he couldn't get her to like him if his life depended on it.

Dany had definitely taken her own advice and James was starting to wonder if he should take it too. It was a question he pondered for a while, he thought about it all the time over Winter Break. He saw Dany a good bit and at New Years, he had hung out with Sirius and Lily because Dany was otherwise occupied with her boyfriend being there. It appeared that Daniel didn't particularly like _or_ dislike Brady and seemed rather neutral on the boy, clearly not taking to him the way he had Dany's friends. Maybe it was because he was his little girl's first boyfriend and his paternal instincts were kicking in, full-force; or maybe it was because he, like all other men, knew that he didn't have what was best for Dany in mind. No matter the reason, Daniel was clearly not happy with his daughter's choice in boyfriend. Before they had left for the night, Daniel had pulled James aside.

"Watch him. Something's…off with him. I'm not going to say anything to her because it's her choice, I trust her judgment, but I still don't like the feeling he gives me." Daniel had muttered and James had nodded before leaving with his parents. They had all been rather unenthused to see Sirius walk off with his parents, but, unlike last year, Walburga Black looked like she had just won a great victory sometime tonight. James found that somewhat unsettling. Lily for her part had looked stunning as always (despite James currently considering moving on, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked), but Dany just couldn't seem to duplicate the same glowing happiness that she had possessed last New Year's Eve. It was like ever since the middle of last school year, she hadn't been quite the same; something had changed with her and James had almost hoped that Brady would be able to draw it out of her, make her really and truly happy, but to no avail.

He was standing at the Platform with his parents, who were fretting and worrying, as always. He caught sight of Dany's white hair flashing a few feet away.

"Oh I see Dany. Bye Mom!" He practically shouted at her as he tried to avoid his mother, who was attempting to fix his hair. He walked towards Dany and saw that Brady had already beat him to her. She smiled and he kissed her in a way that James wasn't sure was appropriate for First Years to see. She broke off the kiss and smiled before hugging him lightly. Dany looked up and saw James. He grinned and walked over.

"James!" She said and he laughed as she hugged him.

"I know, I've missed you too in the last two days that I haven't seen you, Dan." He joked and she shoved his shoulder. "Hey, Brady. Good break?" He asked in what he hoped was a neutral way. It apparently was because the other boy nodded.

"Yeah, it was great to get away from school for a bit. I have OWLs coming up and I'm beginning to get a little nervous about it." He said and James remembered that he was, in fact, a year older than them.

"Yeah, I can only imagine how brutal the workload is? Should we just start prepping for the horrors now?" He joked and Brady nodded.

"Start getting ready…except I don't know if there's really anything you can do to prepare for the dictatorship that Minerva McGonagall has over Fifth Year. It's awful." He said in response and James thought that he wasn't going to have much trouble with Transfiguration seeing that he, Sirius, Frank, and Peter were getting closer and closer to becoming animagi every week. If he were being honest, it was really only Sirius and he doing the heavy lifting on that one; Frank and Peter were along for the ride.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said and as soon as the conversation died, Dany grinned and looked behind him.

"Lily!" She said and hugged her friend. Lily grinned and hugged her back quickly before greeting both James and Brady.

"Hey guys, good breaks?" They both nodded. "I'm glad to hear that." James saw her eyes flick around. "Has anyone seen…?" She trailed off and Dany and James shook their heads.

"No, you all are the only people I've seen that I really recognize or care to recognize." Dany said and Lily nodded, obviously concerned. James knew why; no one had heard from Sirius since New Years. Dany didn't look overly thrilled with the situation either. Brady clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

"I hope he's okay." Lily said, concerned. It warmed James to her; she truly cared about Sirius, even though she could barely stand James himself.

"I know you're super concerned, Evans; fortunately for you, I'm right here." A voice suddenly said from behind Brady, who jumped at the sudden appearance. They all looked around and saw Sirius, looking pretty healthy. It was the best he had looked in a while after coming back from break. James grinned.

"Such a big ego, mate. Who said we were talking about you?" He said and Sirius shrugged.

"Call it an educated guess." He responded. "Hello, ladies." He added on to Dany and Lily. Lily quickly hugged him and he chuckled and hugged her back. Dany smiled and hugged him too. "Wow, this is a shockingly warm welcome back." He said as Dany hugged him for a second longer than she probably should have in front of her boyfriend. James glanced at Brady and sure enough, he didn't look overly thrilled with it. James thought that Brady better get used to it; he and Dany hadn't been dating for more than a week before break had started and so he was used to having her one-on-one at her house or otherwise. He had no idea just how much of her time and attention that Sirius took up on a regular basis; he was tied with Lily, who was her, hands down, best friend. If Brady had a problem with Sirius, James had a feeling that things weren't going to last long or they were going to get very ugly in some capacity.


	16. Claws Buried Deep

_Disclaimer: Yeah, not mine_

 _So, things get a little...intense towards the end and we're getting the idea that Brady and Sirius REALLY don't like each other. Like a lot. They actually hate each other._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

You don't have to look any further  
I've been waiting here for you for time  
You don't have to look any further  
You're missing what is right before your eyes

No one's gonna stick the pieces together for you  
Together for you

You've got your claws buried deep  
Bite down, bite down into me  
Bite down, bite down into me  
You better sink your teeth before I disappear  
Bite down

~ _Bite Down_ , Bastille VS. Haim

* * *

Natalie Hawk was possibly the most judgmental girl in the entire castle. She somehow managed to fit high levels of scorn and distain for almost every person she knew into her 5 foot tall body. Dany always wondered if she had to curl her hair the way she did just to hide the devil's horns that were surely on the top of her head. And tragically, just two weeks after term started and school resumed, Natalie Hawk was her daily spectacle over breakfast. She had always been kind of tempted to ask Sirius if he had ever noticed any kind of horn or pointy object on her head when he had been snogging her but had always either chickened out or thought better of it.

"I'm just say that there has to be something wrong with her head. You don't curl your hair that way just for fun." Dany was saying to Brady as they walked from dinner up to the Ravenclaw common room, somewhere she had been pleasantly surprised to discover was lovely. Brady laughed.

"I mean her hair isn't _that_ bad." He said and she raised an eyebrow. "Alright it's that bad…maybe she was dropped on her head as a baby, dented it, and is trying to hide her deformity." He added on and she laughed.

"Maybe. We'll probably never know what her head actually looks like with those awful curls; they're just so frizzy. They make her look like she's about ten years older and ten times less attractive than she could be." Dany added on thoughtfully. Brady answered the riddle to the door of the common room relatively quickly and they walked in. Dany sat down next to Brady on a couch near the window. It was snowing outside and it was getting dark.

"Why are you so obsessed with Black's girlfriends?" He asked suddenly and Dany looked him in the face, changing her gaze from the falling snow; confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know, I mean…you bitch about them kind of a lot. I mean it's funny to hear but I'm just curious." He said and she was momentarily taken aback by the way he had said that she bitched about them. He hadn't called her a bitch, just how she complained, she reminded herself.

"Well I'm subjected to them snogging over breakfast every morning; you can't really like anyone that much after watching them shove their tongue down your friend's throat over your porridge." She said with a shrug. It was true; the snogging at breakfast thing always had grossed her out to some degree.

"I see your point…why are you friends with Black, then? If it drives you crazy, I mean." He said and Dany was surprised by the logic.

"Because there's a lot more to Sirius than his sex habits…there's more to everyone than when or how they snog, Brady. What's with you tonight?" She asked him and he shrugged. "Come on, you've got to talk to me about it if you want anything to change." She pried and he sighed.

"Fine. I just don't like him, is all. I don't think that he's a good guy and he just generally gives me a bad vibe. I don't really like seeing you around him because of that." He responded and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"You've got to be joking. Sirius is a really good guy, despite his…habits with girls." She said and he shook his head.

"Look, Dan I just don't want to share you with another guy." He said and she didn't particularly like the wording of that.

" _Share_? I'm sorry, but does one of you get me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays? Did I miss the memo that I'm going to be passed back and forth like a Quaffle? I spend time with who I want, Brady. You don't get to pick for me." She snapped and he seemed to relent.

"I just don't want to see you get dragged into his mess is all." Brady said and Dany shrugged.

"We're friends. That kind of makes his mess my mess. It also makes my mess his mess though so I think it's fair." She said and Brady nodded, although clearly not content with that answer. Just then, the door to Ravenclaw opened to reveal none other than Natalie Hawk, closely trailed by Sirius himself. He looked around and saw them by the window. Natalie was trying to un-charm the stairs and Dany rolled her eyes. "I hope you enjoy yourself". She whispered at him sarcastically and he grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Oh, I will." He mouthed back silently behind his girlfriend's back. She shook her head disbelievingly.

"We'll still be sitting here when you leave in…oh about 10 minutes." She hissed back and he pouted mockingly at her momentarily before walking up the stairs behind Natalie.

"That's what I'm talking about. It's just gross, what he does with them and you obviously know it seeing that you were just giving him shit about it." Brady commented and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Don't start with that again, Brady. I'm really not in the mood. I don't particularly care for it, but it's not my life and it's none of my business." She said.

"Alright, alright how about we work on your Charms homework instead?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yes, please. I'm still horrible in that class. I honestly don't know how I'm going to pass." She said and pulled out her book, opening it to the right page. They spent the next couple hours working on Charms (Sirius had left the tower alone about 45 minutes after he had walked in with Natalie) and finally, Dany left feeling more comfortable with Charms and more uncomfortable with Sirius' dating habits.

By the time she reached Gryffindor tower, all she wanted to do was to crawl into bed and sleep through her morning Herbology class tomorrow. She didn't know why she was so exhausted but she definitely was more tired than usual. Maybe it was the bickering with Brady; she liked to think that she wasn't a particularly petty person and arguments like that give her headaches. She gave the portrait the password and walked into the common room to see that the only person down there was Sirius. It seemed weird to Dany; he had legitimately been in his girlfriend's bed a little more than an hour ago and now here he was reading a book. It just didn't add up in her head. He looked up when she walked in and smiled. What Brady had been lecturing her about quickly faded out of her mind and the boy in front of her went from being a womanizer to her funny and (usually) kind friend.

"How was your dashing and ever pleasant boyfriend?" He asked and she sat down next to him in the floor.

"Hey, let's not start pointing fingers or being rude around here. I promise that I'll win. 45 minutes total, Sirius? That's all you could manage? Poor Natalie." She asked condescendingly and he shrugged.

"Are you implying that I didn't do a good job?" He asked, clearly amused. She laughed.

"Hey, I don't care how you fuck your girlfriend. I don't know and I don't want to know." She said with a shrug, putting her head back onto the seat of the chair she was sitting against and closing her eyes. So tired.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? I've never heard anything so vulgar from you, Danilynn." He said back and she laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sirius; I'm an angel. But I'm just saying that if we're going to make a competition out of being a good boyfriend, I don't think you're a frontrunner." She said.

"And you think Brady is?" He asked and she didn't bother opening her eyes.

"He has been so far. I'm going to say that he is until he isn't." She said and she couldn't gauge his reaction with her eyes closed. So tired. So, so tired.

"That's fair, I guess…you should know though, and this isn't a slam at Brady so don't freak, that guys change a little once you sleep with them. I'm not saying that all guys become dicks and will leave you but the relationship's going to change." He said and she opened an eye to look at him.

"Thanks for the notice. I wouldn't worry about me too much; that's a long way away." She said and closed her eye again, once she had seen him shrug.

"Whatever, I'm just telling you now; from the perspective of a guy that's lived it many times." He said and she snorted.

"Oh, I bet you have. You're on girlfriend what? Girlfriend Five? Girlfriend Six?" She asked and there was a moment of silence.

"Six. Natalie makes six." He said and she made a noise that she hoped he would understand as an acknowledgement. She didn't respond and he started talking about something that sounded like it involved James; he was talking in an oddly rhythmic and relaxing way. Not five minutes into the story and she had been lulled to sleep.

"Dany! Dany! Get up!" She heard someone saying as they shook her shoulder.

"Wha—what the hell? Where am I?" She asked, looking around blearily. "Lily?" She asked her redheaded friend who was standing in front of her.

"Yeah, it's Lily. Would you like to explain to me why you decided to camp out down here last night?" She said and Dany looked around. She was still in the common room. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"I—I didn't mean to. I must have fallen asleep on the floor accidentally." She said and Lily looked interested as Dany stood and her joints protested to her moving.

"You said you fell asleep on the floor?" She asked and Dany nodded as the two girls walked back to their room to get ready for the school day.

"Yeah, I fell asleep sitting on the floor, I'm pretty sure." She said. "I don't know how I ended up _not_ on the floor."

"When I woke up and you had never came back to the room, I came looking for you. You definitely weren't sitting on the floor." Lily said and Dany raised an eyebrow as they walked into the room. How she had gotten off the floor was beyond her. She was too tired to think about it.

"You found her! Dan, we were worried." Alice said as she walked out of the bathroom. Marlene looked up from applying mascara.

"Yeah, please don't ever decide to spend the night at Brady's again without telling us." She added on.

"I didn't spend the night at Brady's; I fell asleep on the floor of the common room." She explained and they all nodded.

"So you're still a virgin?" Marlene asked sadly.

"Yes Marlene, I'm still a virgin. Sorry to disappoint you." She said as she started to get ready for school.

"I'm telling you Dan, I didn't find you on the floor. You were dead asleep on the couch by the fire. You even had a blanket. Are you _sure_ you didn't actually sit on the couch?" Lily asked and Dany shook her head.

"No, I definitely was on the floor because I fell asleep with my head resting on one of the chairs; at least that's the last thing I remember." She said.

"Why were you sitting in the common room last night anyways?" Alice asked suddenly and Dany shrugged.

"I came back from hanging with Brady and Sirius was in the common room by himself so I sat down and we talked for a while. That's when I fell asleep, I guess. The last thing I remember is sitting on the floor and listening to him talk about…I don't even know what he was talking about, to be honest. I just remember him talking and that was it; lights out." She said with a shrug as she put her shoes on.

"He probably noticed you fell asleep and didn't want to leave you on the ground." Marlene said from around her toothbrush. Dany nodded.

"Probably. I don't know why he wouldn't have tried to get me up, but whatever."

"He could have tried to wake you up for all we know; you're kind of a heavy sleeper and it might not have worked." Alice said and Lily looked amused and muttered something.

"What was that?" Dany asked, completely missing what she had said.

"Nothing. It's just kind of sweet, is all." Lily said quietly and Dany saw Marlene smile a little, obviously trying to stop herself.

"Seriously, Lily? I _do_ have a boyfriend, you know." Dany said and even as she said it, it didn't feel right. Maybe she just wasn't used to the sound of it yet. Boyfriend was a funny word.

"I know you do but I just think that it was sweet of him. He picked you up, put you on a couch, and gave you a blanket before he went to bed." Lily said and Alice and Marlene both nodded.

"I didn't want to be the one to say it, but it's true." Marlene said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you guys say. All I know for sure is that we need to get down to breakfast so we can eat something before Natalie comes over and ruins all of our appetites." Dany said and everyone agreed. As they walked down to the Great Hall, Dany idly wondered what exactly Brady would have done if she had been sleeping in the same position in the Ravenclaw common room.

* * *

Lily woke up and pushed Alice and Marlene out of bed as usual, to their normal groans of protest. Then she went to rouse Dany and she felt her stomach drop. It felt like someone had pulled her intestines right out of her and dumped cold water over her head.

"Get up, both you. Dany didn't come back last night." She said sharply and Alice and Marlene both stood up immediately. Unannounced disappearances like this were alarming in the war and even at Hogwarts, people were becoming paranoid; not to mention that if anyone was going to be a target, it was going to be Dany or Rhaegar.

"What do you mean 'she didn't come back'?" Alice asked. Lily pointed to her friend's untouched bed. She had never come to the room and she had never gone to bed.

"I mean she didn't sleep here last night. When was the last time you guys saw her?" Lily asked.

"Dinner last night; said she was going to go spend some time with Brady." Marlene said and Lily nodded.

"They probably just hooked up or something. Dan probably decided that she was sick of being a virgin." Alice added. "Do you think she's okay?" She added on.

"Yeah, it's Dan; she's fine, she's _always_ fine." She said. "I'm still going to go look for her though, just in case." Lily said and walked out of the room. Her search for her friend ended very quickly. She almost missed her, and would have if it hadn't been for the constantly burning fire bouncing light off of her white hair, catching her attention. Dany was sleeping on the couch closest to the fire, obviously in her clothes from yesterday, with a blanket wrapped around her. Lily had gone to get her up and Dany clearly had no idea what had happened past falling asleep or how she had been relocated from floor to couch.

Now they were walking down to the Great Hall and this fact didn't seem to be pressing on Dany as much as it had been her friend. Dany seemed to be content with the fact that Sirius had "platonically" moved her onto the couch but Lily wasn't. She knew that she was obsessed with her friends' love lives but she couldn't help it. The girls all took seats at the table and started easily talking about Herbology.

"So do you think that we could convince Sirius to pull a mandrake out accidentally? I would love to see his face as he hits the ground like Second Year." Marlene was saying and the girls were laughing.

"I hope so…damn that was hilarious." Alice laughed.

"That poor boy. I honestly feel worse for James though; he was the one who had to drag him to the hospital wing." Dany said and suddenly none other than Sirius Black sat down next to her. Lily wondered where the rest of the guys were.

"Are we seriously reliving that right now? I don't think that it's quite as funny the thousandth time, Dan." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Yell at me all you want, but it wasn't me who brought it up. So apparently it _is_ just as funny the thousandth time because we're all laughing." She replied cheekily and he rolled his eyes as he ate a piece of bacon.

"Whatever. If you have to tell that story, I'll just start telling everyone about how you broke your nose on the back of James' head." He laughed and she didn't look overly thrilled with that.

"Oh, yay. Like having my nose broken wasn't bad enough, now it's going to be told to everyone in the castle. Thank you so much. This is why we're friends; because we torment each other by retelling bad stories" She said dryly but still trying not to laugh. Lily thought that she was really horrible at hiding emotions. Sirius laughed and then suddenly looked past Dany. She noticed and turned around. It was Brady. She smiled and he kissed her quickly. "Hey. How are you?" She asked softly, obviously trying to keep the conversation at least partially private.

"I'm good. You?" He asked and she smiled and nodded.

"I'm good. We have to get going soon though, we have Herbology." She said and he nodded.

"I'll get out of your hair then. See you guys later." He said and kissed her one more time before leaving.

"So, Herbology then?" Lily asked and everyone nodded and started picking up their things. "Oh, Sirius where are the rest of your dancing band of idiot boys?" She asked and he noticeably tensed.

"Sick. They all came down with some weird flu. I guess I had it as a kid and am immune or something because I didn't catch it. Damn miracle seeing that they're all fighting over who gets to vomit in the toilet and not the sink." He said and no one looked particularly thrilled with that. Lily saw Dany look at him critically and her eyes narrowed for a second but she didn't say anything.

"That's awful. Please don't get us sick." Marlene said, clearly not noticing the same thing that Dany had, whatever it was.

"Yeah, I'll do my best not to breathe on any of you. And we're _not_ idiots and we do _not_ dance, Evans." He added on, finally catching that. Lily laughed.

"Oh please, I know that you can at least passably dance. Well sort of. Actually I take it back, you're not that great." She said and Dany laughed.

"Aw, Lils that's awfully mean, especially considering that neither of us are in a position to talk." Dany said and Lily rolled her eyes.

"You absolutely are in a position to talk; you can dance, Danilynn Masters, and don't you lie about it." She said and Dany waved a hand.

"Eh, if you insist." She said before starting to pull her hair up into a ponytail in preparation for the always-dirty class that was Herbology. Dirt was her hair's enemy because it was white; anything that even came near it was visible from essentially a mile away, except for snow, which blended right in. The five of them walked in and took their spots. Professor Sprout walked in in her usual chipper way and class started. It was a boring class today; it was mainly theory and lecturing and even though Lily forced herself to take notes and listen, she wanted to take a leaf out of Marlene's book and just put her head on the table and sleep. Dany had been braiding and unbraiding Lily's hair for the last twenty minutes from the seat behind her and Lily thought that she must know thousand different ways to braid hair, judging by how long she had been at it.

Finally class drew to a close and Dany quickly undid Lily's hair as the redhead collected her things back into her bag.

"Well that was dreadfully boring." Alice observed and everyone nodded in agreement. Lily, Dany, Marlene, and Alice had Muggle Studies so they bid Sirius goodbye before walking towards Professor Burbage's classroom.

"Does anyone know what that essay we're supposed to be writing is actually about?" Marlene asked and everyone shook her head. Muggle Studies was fun but instructions regarding assignments were just dreadful.

"I never know what I'm doing in that class, truthfully. I just kind of guess and cross my fingers when I'm doing homework." Dany commented and Lily nodded.

"No matter how much I pay attention, I just can't figure out what exactly she wants us to do. Maybe we could ask after class today?" Lily suggested and waited for the groans. Sure enough, they all immediately started complaining.

"Why would I want to see her more than I have to?"

"You've got to be joking, all I took this class for is to have a class to do nothing in."

"There's no way I'm doing that, Lillian."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if you really want to know, we should probably just ask her." Lily pointed out and everyone started complaining again. "Alright, never mind. It was just a suggestion; there's no need to go crazy over it." She said, dropping the topic. It had been worth a shot.

* * *

"Six. Natalie makes six." Sirius said to Dany, who he was rather sure hadn't moved since she had put her head down on the chair she was leaned against. She didn't answer for a while so he just randomly started talking. "So James and I were in the Kitchens yesterday and we were talking to the house elves and I think that they'd be willing to let us slip a potion that causes boils into the Slytherins' food if we asked nice enough. They're faces would be incredible and of course I doubt that hardly any of them know how to make the antidote, which takes a week to simmer, by the way. And supposedly the boils pop up in some really unpleasant places…ah, good stuff." He idly said and Dany didn't respond. He looked over at her. Her eyes had been closed the entire time but sometime during his talking, she had obviously fallen asleep. It was a look that he knew relatively well from her father's stint in the hospital; her face relaxed and her breathing became significantly deeper. She looked vulnerable. "Dan? Dany?"

He had to wake her up because he couldn't get her up her stairs and he couldn't go get one of the girls to bring her up either. They were all in their room and even though he spent a lot of time in girls' dorms, he still didn't know how to take the spell off the stairs. Her mouth opened slightly and he gently tried to shake her awake.

"Dany, Dany you've got to get up." He tried to wake her up but nothing happened. Lily had always claimed that she was a heavy sleeper but he had never seen it firsthand. Because of how erratically she had slept in the hospital, she hadn't ever really had a chance to sleep any deeper than a nap. "Seriously Dan, wake up." He said and shook her a little more roughly. She didn't do more than move her head slightly and he didn't want to shake her any harder in case he hurt her. She obviously wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon but he also couldn't just leave her on the floor of the common room and completely vulnerable. He looked around and sighed. "Alright, here we go." He said and picked her up and put her on the couch. She was lighter than he had expected; she weighed next to nothing. He grabbed a blanket and threw it on her and suddenly she shifted around and her eyes fluttered open as she wrapped the blanket around herself.

"Sirius?" She asked, still obviously mostly asleep.

"Yeah Dany, you fell asleep on the floor and I moved you, okay?" He said and she nodded groggily, looking so sleepy that she almost appeared drunk. That was something that he realized he had never seen; he had never seen her really and truly wasted.

"Okay…" She said and her eyelids started to really droop. She was on her way back out.

"Goodnight." He said and started to back away but she grabbed his hand softly.

"Will you stay with me?" She said, probably delirious. Her eyes had momentarily fluttered back open.

"What?" He asked blankly. He probably shouldn't have asked a mostly-asleep person for clarification but he did anyways.

"Stay with me tonight." She repeated, weakly pulling on his hand; it was probably all the strength she could muster at the moment.

"Dany, I can't stay with you; you have a boyfriend. You remember Brady, right?" He said gently and she shook her head as he tried to remove his hand from hers without her noticing. It wasn't working.

"No, not Brady. Stay. Please." She mumbled again and he was momentarily really tempted to comply and stay with her on the common room couch for the night.

"I can't, you know that. It wouldn't be right. Go to sleep, Dan." He said and she nodded before her eyes closed again and her breathing evened out, which gave him an opportunity to pull his hand back from her sleeping grasp. He started to back away and glanced back one more time before he walked upstairs. He walked into his room and James was the only one still up.

"Hey, what took you so long?" James asked and Sirius shrugged.

"Oh, I read for a little while downstairs after I came back from Natalie's and then Dany came in and we talked for a while." He said, hesitating to add the part about her falling asleep. "And then she fell asleep." He said and James raised an eyebrow.

"You did _not_ leave her on the floor of the common room, did you?" James asked, Big Brother James clearly kicking in. Sirius shook his head.

"No, what kind of person do you think I am? I moved her to a couch and gave her a blanket. It's not like I could exactly get to her room." He said and James relaxed.

"Good. I know you treat your girlfriends like shit but I don't want you mistreating her." James said, clearly approving of that course of action. A silence fell between the two as they both thought. Sirius was rather sure that he didn't have the capability to mistreat Dany; he knew when it came down to it, there was no way that he would intentionally hurt her.

"She asked me to stay with her." Sirius said suddenly, and very quietly. James raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said she was asleep." He said.

"She was. She woke up for a minute so I told her that I moved her, so she wouldn't freak out in the morning. She said okay and when I tried to walk away she grabbed my hand and asked me to stay. I told her that she had a boyfriend and that it wouldn't be right but she didn't seem to care. It was weird. Eventually she went back to sleep and I left." He said and James smiled a little.

"What did she say, like word for word?" James asked.

"She literally said 'stay with me tonight'. I'm not joking, mate." He said and James shook his head, amused.

"Anything else? What did you say?"

"I said that I couldn't because she had a boyfriend. I asked her if she remembered Brady. And she said, and I quote, 'no, not Brady. Stay. Please'. And I told her to go to sleep and she did. That was it." He said with a shrug and James smiled a little. Big Brother James knew something that he wasn't saying.

"She gets like that when she's sleepy…I'm not surprised at all to be honest. It sounded like you handled it pretty well; be glad she really and truly likes you because if she didn't, some really mean things would have been coming out of her mouth. Not even I get off that easy; one time she told me that I had weird ears and complained too much." James said.

"What do you mean?"

"She gets honest when she's sleeping but not quite. She gets _really_ honest; she'll act on things she normally wouldn't and just loses all her inhibitions. Anything she said to you tonight was the brutal truth. There was no endgame or trick; she legitimately wanted you to stay with her and obviously didn't understand why you couldn't. She won't remember it tomorrow, in all probability, so I wouldn't worry about there being some super awkward thing or anything. If neither of us ever say anything, it'll never be heard of again." James said and Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"She was really adamant about not seeing her boyfriend. She didn't want to even talk about him. She just shook her head and said 'no, not Brady'. That's a little bit negative for it to be the truth; they're dating." Sirius commented and James shrugged.

"Maybe she's in denial or something; we'll probably never really know because she won't remember so it's not like we can ask."

"I guessed as much about her not remembering anything. She looked like she was drunk." Sirius said and James laughed.

"No, if she was drunk, she would have been crying. But it appears that you have a super reassuring presence or something though if she wanted you to stay with her through the night." James said with a shrug. "Someone should probably inform her that the great Sirius Black doesn't sleep _next_ to girls; he only sleeps _with_ them." James added on with a wry grin. Sirius flipped him off.

"Oh you're just mad you're celibate, James." He said and James laughed.

"Fair enough. If she wasn't dating Brady, would you have stayed with her?" James asked, looking genuinely interested in his answer. Sirius thought about it. His first instinct was to deny completely but he thought about it for a second and he remembered how tempted he had been to stay with her on that couch even though she _did_ have a boyfriend.

"I don't know. I think I might have if she had been single. I was partially tempted as it was." He admitted and James raised his eyebrows.

"Really? Wow, I wasn't expecting that answer. Well, lost opportunities I guess."

"Yeah, don't ever repeat that to anyone. Ever." Sirius said and James nodded with a smile.

"I won't tell anyone that you're going soft, I promise. Now, I'm not going to ask you to get in bed with me, but I'm going to suggest we go to bed; we have class in the morning." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going soft." He said defensively and James laughed.

"You're so going soft. You just admitted that you would have slept next to her on a couch, _clothes on_. Not to mention that you moved her in the first place. You have to admit that you wouldn't do that for any of your girlfriends." James said. Damn, he had him on that. There was no way that he would have thought to do that for Natalie or any of her predecessors.

"Alright, alright you've got me there. But just don't tell her about that, James; she doesn't need to remember asking someone who isn't her boyfriend to sleep with her…in the drool on your pillow kind of way." Sirius said before climbing into bed.

The next morning, he had sat down with the girls, the rest of the guys were working on the map and the transformation; he had drawn the short straw and had been forced to go to class, to throw off suspicion from the rest of them. Brady had come over to talk to Dany briefly and he continued to turn around in his mind what she had meant when she had said "not Brady". She had seemed pretty content with her boyfriend's presence over breakfast, before they had all gone to Herbology. That just further proved James' assurances that she didn't remember a damn thing she had said to him, half-delirious.

Herbology had been damn boring and even though he was sitting next to Natalie, who would have been more than happy to pass notes or something, he didn't feel any interest in really talking to her, or anyone else for that matter. Instead, he settled for watching Marlene doodle, Alice sleep, Lily take notes, and Dany braid and unbraid Lily's hair in about twenty different ways. He was rather intrigued by the fact that so many things could be done to hair and he was also rather amazed that Lily could find the energy to take notes on this dreadful class. Once class ended, he got up and the girls all quickly said goodbye to him before leaving for Muggle Studies. Natalie didn't seem overly thrilled with her boyfriend talking to any girl that wasn't her; they had been dating for over two weeks now and she was becoming more and more unfriendly towards his friends as they got further into February. They walked together to the Great Hall.

"Where are the other guys?" She asked randomly and Sirius shrugged.

"They're all sick. I don't know how I didn't catch the bug from any of them, to be honest. Damn miracle." He responded, not even feeling bad for feeding her the same lie he had fed his friends earlier today. He had at least felt kind of bad for lying so completely before.

"That's not good…I hope they get better." Sirius doubted that. "Well, more time for me I guess." She said with a smile and Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes at the cheesy line.

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to be avoiding my room for the better part of today. Maybe by the time I try to go to bed they'll all be done throwing up." He said and immediately Natalie looked interested.

"You could always just stay the night with me. No one will throw up on you in my room, I promise." She said and Sirius shook his head.

"As tempting as that is, someone has to go in there to check that they're still alive eventually. I feel kind of bad leaving them alone all day; I can't leave them all night too to fend for themselves." He said, quickly coming up with an excuse. Natalie smiled as they sat down at the Ravenclaw table, near Natalie's friends. They all smiled welcomingly and Sirius thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't dated any of them.

"Of course. That's very caring of you." She said sweetly and Sirius didn't miss the tight set of her mouth. She either was really selfish or he hadn't sold that lie as well as he thought he had. He was a good liar, good enough to get by his parents, so he seriously doubted that his bullshitting skills were at fault.

"Even though I can't spend the night, that doesn't mean that I'm opposed to your room." He said and she grinned.

"Well when you put it that way, I think we should just go skip lunch altogether." She grinned and he let her lead him to Ravenclaw tower. She answered the riddle and they walked in. There were a few people in the common room and Sirius didn't bother identifying any of them.

"Black." Someone suddenly said and Sirius looked around. It was Brady. He had quite forgotten that his current girlfriend and Dany's boyfriend were in the same house.

"Yeah?" He asked warily and Brady waved him over. Natalie shrugged and he walked towards Dany's boyfriend. "Can I help you?" He asked. Brady wasn't looking particularly friendly at the moment.

"Yeah, you can actually. Can you do me a favor and back off of her?" Brady asked and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to stay away from Natalie? I don't really see how that has anything to do with you." He said and Brady rolled his eyes condescendingly.

"Well, now we all know why you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw, Black; clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. I don't give a fuck what you do with Natalie. I meant Dany; you know, my _girlfriend_. Back off because she's mine. She doesn't need to be spending time with you." He snapped. _This_ was the guy he knew from the Quidditch Pitch, not his friend's seemingly caring and attentive boyfriend. This was the person that he had tried to warn Dany off of, not the face he was putting on around her.

"Well I'm super happy for you two, but I really think that she can decide who she spends her time with on her own. She's a big girl, Harris; I think she has good enough judgment to make that call herself." Sirius said. Brady didn't look pleased with this.

"I don't trust her judgment, not with you. She might not see you for what you are, but I do. She's living under the delusion that you're a really good guy, but we all know that that isn't really the case. So do everyone a favor and leave her alone." Brady said and Sirius was rather taken aback by this. He had never really given Brady much thought past thinking that he was an arrogant asshole who enjoyed fucking three girls at one time behind his actual girlfriend's back.

"Well that's fantastic, Harris. I'm so glad I finally know how you feel about me. But you know what else is fantastic? I really don't care." He said sharply. This was quickly deteriorating, that much was obvious.

"Besides, it's pretty obvious how you feel about her. You have to know that she's way out of your league, right? Have you actually deluded yourself into thinking that you have a chance with her? Please, she's the Minister's daughter and you come from a dirty family; and you know it too, don't you? You know that your blood is dirty. You have less of a chance with her than just about anyone in this castle." Brady said and Sirius was simultaneously becoming increasingly pissed and, for some reason, anxious.

"Well I'll be sure to keep that in mind for when I actually care about what you think about me and my lovely bloodlines. Unfortunately, I don't think that I'll ever care about what you think about me, so your little lecture was pretty useless. And if you're so concerned about me being around your girlfriend, why don't you take it up with her? Could it be because you know she wouldn't like it? Could it be because you're a tiny bit worried about her getting just pissed enough to break things off? Or did you already try to bring it up?" Sirius asked and he saw Brady's jaw clench. "You did, didn't you? You already brought this up to her and from the looks of it, she told you to mind your own business. Well that's a damn shame because I'll stop talking to her when _she_ asks me to, Harris. I don't take orders from you." He said and walked out of the common room, leaving Natalie standing where she had been waiting for him by the stairs leading to her room.

* * *

James' head was throbbing. He had been reading an ancient book on the Animagus transformation all morning and just trying to understand the content was bad enough, let alone the fact that it was roughly translated from cuneiform by Remus, who was in Ancient Runes. Frank was putting the final touches on the map, under Remus' supervision, and Peter was trying to do homework so that they wouldn't all be drowning in work when they went back to class tomorrow. Suddenly, Sirius opened the door and slammed it behind him loudly. Everyone looked up.

"Sirius. Wha—?" Remus started. He was supposed to be in Charms.

"Everyone out." He snapped and everyone exchanged looks. James knew that face; he was pissed. "James, stay." He said and Remus, Frank, and Peter cleared out pretty quickly, clearly recognizing that now wasn't a good time to be a smartass and comment back.

"Uh, Sirius why aren't you in class right now?" James asked slowly and Sirius started to pace.

"I was going to go to class but I had a free period last period, right?" James nodded. "Right, so I go back with Natalie to Ravenclaw tower and—"

"No, I don't want to hear about your sex life." James protested and Sirius glared at him.

"Shut up for a second. So before I can go to her room, Brady calls me over to where he is in the common room." James raised an eyebrow. This wasn't good. "So I go over, I mean he's dating one of my best friends, I can't exactly ignore him. So I go over and he says, and I quote, 'back off of her'. So I think he means Natalie because that's who I'm with right then, and he makes some smartass comment about me being dumb or something and then he said that he means Dany; said that I needed to 'back off' because 'she's mine and doesn't need to be spending time with you'." Sirius started to rant. James instantly became very pissed.

"He said what?!" He shouted and Sirius held a hand up.

"Oh no, I'm just getting started. Save your outrage for later. So I tell him that Dan's more than capable of making that choice on her own, I mean she can handle herself, right?" James nodded, "So he says that he doesn't trust her judgment about me because I'm apparently a horrible person or something and said something like 'do everyone a favor and leave her alone'. So I told him that I didn't really care what he thought about me and he just kind of ignored me and kept going." Sirius broke off and James knew there had to be more to the story.

"What the fuck, man? Has anything like this happened before?" James asked, even though he was fairly certain that it hadn't; judging by his friend's almost violent reaction, he would have heard about it if it had.

"No, I've hardly ever spoken to him and that's just been as a courtesy to Dany. I have no clue where this came from." He said and James shrugged. He wasn't very fond of the fact that Brady was trying to make decisions for James' own Godsister.

"I don't know, but this sounds fucking crazy…now what's the part of this that you're not telling me? I know you, Sirius, and if you had already told me everything you'd still be ranting about it." James said and Sirius looked almost guilty for a second.

"He…well he said something like 'It's pretty obvious how you feel about her. She's way out of your league and you've deluded yourself into thinking that you have a chance. She's the Minister's daughter and you come from a dirty family, and you know it. You know that your blood's dirty'. It was delightful. He's a great guy, really." Sirius muttered and James instantly became very, _very_ pissed. He knew as well as anyone that knew Sirius that his family was a sore spot that he still was very insecure about. Anyone that pushed on that usually received a nice ass whooping from James. The 'dirty blood' line was just unnecessarily nasty and cruel.

"Oh he did not." James snapped.

"Oh he did. I asked him why he hadn't brought any of this up to Dan if he was so worried and from what I gathered, he already had and she didn't take it too well. I told him that I'd leave her alone when she, and not him, asked me to and then I left." Sirius finished as he sat down on his bed. He put his head in his hands and James felt very bad for his friend. He knew that Sirius had thought what Brady had told him about his blood more than once and hearing it out loud was sure to take a toll. His stress was palpable from the other side of the room.

"Damn, I'm sorry. The guy's a prick. Not to mention that all that shit he said about you having dirty blood is just ridiculous. And if Dany didn't want to see you, I'm sure she'd make that abundantly clear. It's not like you've never been openly pissed at each other before. You know just as well as any of us that Dany couldn't care less about last names or power; she introduced herself to you when we were eleven, knowing full well who your family was. She doesn't care and neither should you." James said, trying to be as gentle as he could be.

"Yeah, I guess…but that's just it though, I mean I _do_ have dirty blood. I hate myself a little bit for having all of that hatred and prejudice and venom pumping through my veins. And I—it's just if he was right about that, what else was he right about?" Sirius said and James realized that he was getting a good look at a very vulnerable and emotional side of Sirius. This was why Sirius went to Dany instead of him sometimes, like Third Year after his parents had beaten him to hell and back; he hadn't just needed someone to heal a couple of cuts, he had needed an ear to talk to freely. Except Sirius couldn't go to Dany about this. He couldn't go _to_ her because it was _about_ her.

"First of all, he wasn't right about you having dirty blood or whatever and everything else is shit too. Mate, not everyone is going to like you and that's just life. But Dany likes you, she cares a lot about you just like we all do, and when you find people that care for you and have only your best interest at heart, you hold onto them and forget the rest." James said quietly and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah…I know. But I mean sometimes it does seem almost like a joke; I have these horrible blood supremacist parents and then I come to school and I end up being great friends with the youngest Masters. It's just kind of hard to comprehend if you think about it too much." He said and James shook his head.

"You see things differently than she does and it's not your fault, you were raised differently than she was, but she doesn't see you as a Black and she doesn't think about herself as the Minister's daughter or as the youngest Masters; to her you're just Sirius and she's just Dany. You're not your surname, not to her and not to Lily, Alice, Frank, Remus, Marlene, Peter, or me. You are what your actions make you." James said and he saw the look on his friend's face. This clearly wasn't the first time that he had heard something of this nature.

"Thanks, James." He said quietly and James shrugged.

"Don't thank me; I just told you the truth." He said, trying to blow off the massively emotional talk that had just happened.

"Even so, thanks." He said and James nodded.

"Anytime…so are we going to tell her?" He asked suddenly and Sirius shrugged.

"I'm not. I'd rather not have another falling out and prove Harris right." He said with a shrug.

Apparently Sirius really could learn from his mistakes.

James considered talking to Dany for more than a week. He mulled it over and considered all of the outcomes. None of them were very cheery so he did the next best thing: he tracked down Lily and talked to her about it.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily asked as he sat down at her table in the library.

"I want to talk about Brady." He said and she looked up from her work, even bothering to put her quill down.

"What about him?" She asked. James hesitated again. "Spit it out, James Potter. I don't have all day, you know."

"Alright, so like a week ago Sirius comes storming into our room with a bloody thundercloud over his head. So naturally, I ask him what's wrong. So he starts telling me that he was going back to Natalie's room when Harris calls him over and they kind of, erm, got into it." He said delicately.

"Sirius literally can't stop himself, can he?" She asked tiredly. James held up a finger.

"Oh no, let me tell you what he told me. Said that Brady quote 'wants him to back off' of Dany and that he 'didn't trust her judgment'." He said and Lily looked interested and not particularly happy.

"What? That doesn't sound anything like him." She said and James shook his head.

"Oh, that's not even the worst. So Sirius essentially tells him to piss off, right? I mean that's pretty brutal. So apparently Brady says something along the lines of 'it's obvious how you feel about her and you're delusional if you think you have a chance with the Minister's daughter; you have dirty blood'. Like what the fuck?" James hissed, started to get mad all over again. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"What did you say?"

"What?"

"Repeat what you just said. Not the whole thing, just the last bit." She said.

"Seriously? Don't make me say it again, Evans. I didn't like it the first time." James said and Lily seemed to like his answer. James had no idea why.

"You're not just fucking with me right now, are you?" She asked and James shook his head again.

"No, I'm not unfortunately. See, Sirius is refusing to tell her that it ever even happened; said he didn't want to repeat their little argument from this past winter. I wanted your opinion on if someone should fill her in." He said and Lily bit her lip.

"He really pulled the dirty blood card?" She asked again and James nodded. "I don't know…anything too detailed will get her mad at someone and that's not going to end well for anyone, us included." She said and James nodded.

"Wait, you actually believe me? I thought you'd just think that I was trying to get her to ditch Harris." James said and Lily shrugged.

"I considered it. That's why I asked you to repeat it. If you weren't faking, you wouldn't want to say 'dirty blood' again because it makes you feel dirty saying it. So, I believe you. I don't know about her though…she likes him an awful lot." Lily said thoughtfully. James nodded.

"She'd still rip his bloody head off if she caught wind of that." James said and Lily nodded.

"I know she would and I suspect Brady knows it too… it could come down to putting Brady's word against Sirius' word. He might admit to them arguing but there's no way he'd ever tell her that he took that dig at Sirius. She'd walk and he knows it." Lily said. "I think that if you tell her, don't tell her everything. I know that sounds horrible and kind of like lying but hear me out." She said and James nodded. "She has to believe it but it also has to sound mundane enough that Brady won't deny arguing altogether. If she believes that, tell her everything if that's what you want." Lily said with a shrug. "Beyond that, I have no advice." She added on and he nodded again.

"Okay. I think I'll take your advice on this…thanks, Lily." He added on before walking out of the library.

It took all of five minutes to accidentally run into Dany, who was by herself for once.

"Hey, James." She said cheerily and he smiled. He had to tell her. She had a right to know.

"Hey, Dan. Look, I need to talk to you about something…"


	17. I'm Latching Onto You

_Disclaimer: The usual_

 _Hi! I'm updating all of my fics today (no I'm not joking) and this is an action-packed one, jumping from one problem to another, but with a common theme: relationships, relationships, relationships._

 _Now, onwards with the story!_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie._

* * *

 _Yes, I've got you in my space_  
 _I won't let go of you_  
 _Got you shackled in my embrace_  
 _I'm latching on to you_

 _I feel we're close enough_  
 _I can't find your silver lining_  
 _I wanna lock in your love_  
 _I don't mean to judge_  
 _I feel we're close enough_  
 _But when you read your speech, it's tiring_  
 _I wanna lock in your love_  
 _Enough is enough_

~ _La La Latch_ , Pentatonix

* * *

"Hey, Dan. Look, I need to talk to you about something." James said and Dany was immediately confused. Nothing good ever started with 'we need to talk'.

"What's up?" She asked and he looked uncomfortable. "James, you're freaking me out right now. Is everything okay?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean no one's in mortal peril if that's what you mean. It's just…about a week ago, Sirius told me that he and Brady got into an, erm, argument." He said and it was very obvious that he was trying to put this delicately. She raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What about?"

"Okay first of all, Sirius has no idea I'm telling you this so please don't rat me out." He said hastily and she nodded. James wasn't lying, she could always tell with him.

"Noted…why are you telling me this? It sounds like this is between them." She said and James hesitated again. "James."

"Because Brady told Sirius to, and I'm just quoting here, 'back off of you' because Brady doesn't trust your judgment about him." He said and Dany instantly became irritated. The worst part was that it wasn't that far of a leap from the shit Brady already said.

"What? How did this even come up?" She asked and James appeared wary. "I'm not going to rip your head off, so calm down." She added and he nodded.

"Yeah, about that. Apparently Sirius was with Natalie in the Ravenclaw common room and Brady called him over to where he was sitting and they had this little talk." James said uncomfortably and Dany scrutinized his face, looking for his tells. There was no eye twitching, he wasn't touching his ears, and he wasn't fiddling with his fingernails. All signs pointed to James telling the truth.

"Why didn't Sirius want to tell me this himself?" She asked and she thought it was a fair question.

"Well, he didn't want to have a rerun of last winter and not be on speaking terms for a month. Believe it or not, Dan, it took a toll on him too. I don't think he's ever apologized to anyone, other than maybe me and Remus, outside of that. Ever. He was really cut up and he regretted it. He doesn't want to relive it." Dany nodded. She had no particular love for the idea of revisiting that month herself. She got sick of feeling constantly nauseous and anxious very quickly. Having that kind of animosity around wasn't good for the psyche.

"I'll talk to Brady." She said and James nodded. "I want to hear what he has to say about this." She said and he nodded again.

"Okay. I just thought that you deserved to know, is all." He said and she nodded.

"Thanks, James." She said and he walked off, casting a look back at her. Well, her afternoon spent with her boyfriend just got more complicated. She found Brady by the Black Lake. The snow had stopped temporarily as Valentine's Day approached and the ground was finally somewhat dry and solid. She sat down next to him and he smiled.

"Hey, Babe." He said and she smiled back. She tried really hard to stay unbiased.

"Hey…so I just ran into James." She said and he seemed mildly interested.

"Oh, how is he?"

"He's good…he told me something that I wanted to ask you about, though." She said and he really looked at her for the first time since she had sat down.

"What was that?"

"That you and Sirius got into an argument about a week ago." She said quietly. Brady looked surprised.

"Yeah, we had a little bit of a disagreement but it was hardly a big deal…why would James tell you that? It had nothing to do with you." He said and she shrugged.

"He said that you said that you don't trust my judgment." She said. "Is that true? Did you really say that?" She asked and Brady looked more surprised still.

"What? I never said that I don't trust your judgment. I just said that I don't think that you're judgment regarding Black was…accurate, is all." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"And why's that?" She asked.

"I don't know, I mean the way he treats women…it's just not the trademark of a good person." He said and Dany looked at him critically.

"Okay first of all, we've gone through this about his sex life about a thousand time and I don't really care what he does or doesn't do with his girlfriend. Secondly, if you have something you're worried about regarding me, talk to _me_. If it's to the point where you have to tell other guys, who I've been friends with since I was eleven, to back off, there's a problem." She said and he looked surprised.

"Wow, Dan calm down and let's talk. I'll be the first to admit that I don't like Black and that's fine, whatever; but I _never_ said anything about telling him to back off. I mean I'm slightly prone to jealousy but that's just ridiculous. Are you sure someone isn't embellishing?" He asked and Dany thought about it for a second. James hadn't even flinched when he had been talking to her, outside of looking like he really didn't want to be the bearer of this particular information, but then again Brady also seemed to know what he was talking about.

"I don't know; I wasn't there. It isn't like James to do that. He knows how I am." She said and Brady shrugged.

"Maybe James only thought he was telling you the truth." He said and Dany narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like the implication but he had a point. Who was to say that Sirius didn't make it up and told James, knowing it would get to her? It would be an effective way to get rid of Brady if she bought it 100% and it was no secret that the boys disliked each other a great deal.

"I really don't think that Sirius would make something like this up, Brady." She said and even though it was very viable, she somehow doubted it. It didn't seem like Sirius to sit around thinking up petty plans so she'd go through a breakup. Not to mention that he had stayed civil with her boyfriend thus far, which he had told her at least twice was purely out of respect for her.

"Look, I'm just saying that it sounds like a five minute disagreement is being blown up to sound like the argument of the century." He said and she nodded, wishing that she had never heard of this in the first place. "So how about we let it go, blame no one, and enjoy the day?" He asked and she nodded. No one was getting blamed but she wasn't going to forget this. She was going to be watching _both_ of them.

* * *

This year was the first year that Dany wasn't single for Valentine's Day and she didn't know how she felt about that. She never liked the holiday because she thought it was overrated and cliché but Brady had been all for it. So when she woke up the morning of February 14th, she was feeling rather conflicted about it.

"Come on, Dan. Up you go." Lily was saying and Dany groaned into her pillow. "Happy Valentine's Day. You're supposed to be going to Hogsmeade with your cute boyfriend today." She said and she blearily sat up. It was a Saturday this year. It was a Hogsmeade day too. If she ended up in Madam Puddifoot's, she was going to lose her mind.

"I'm up, I'm up." She said and looked around. "Very cute you guys, replicating last year." She said and everyone looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Marlene asked. Dany pointed to her bedside table. The flower was back.

"Oh, no way." Lily said. It had happened last year; same flower, same position, same day, and they still had no idea who had put it there. "Maybe it was Brady?" She added on and she shook her head.

"I doubt it…I had never spoken more than a word to him last Valentine's Day. That's weird…well, there's nothing we can do about it, and so we might as well get on with the day, yeah?" She said and the other girls nodded as Lily placed it in water. Dany didn't miss Lily scrutinizing her. They all started to get dressed and the girls made a huge deal about what Dany, the only one of them in a relationship, wore. She had told them that she really didn't care but no one had listened to her. Lily had forced her into riding boots, jeans, and a trench coat. They were all rushing out of the door and Dany paused. That lone magnolia flower was going to be driving her crazy all bleeding day.

"Dan? You coming?" Lily asked. Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I'm coming…" She said quietly and followed her friends out of the room. All of the guys were already loitering around and all waved as they entered the common room.

"Happy Valentine's Day, ladies." Remus said and smiled they all thanked him and Dany noticed that Sirius was there, sans Natalie.

"So Sirius…you wouldn't happen to have dumped Natalie, would you?" She asked casually and he looked surprised.

"Yeah, yesterday…I didn't tell you lot?" He said and Dany cheered as the other three girls groaned.

"Pay up, ladies! That'll be two galleons each." She said smugly and they all handed her their money as they left the tower.

"You two have _got_ to be conspiring. Does he get half of the pot or something, Dan?" Marlene asked and Dany laughed with a shake of her head.

"No, I'm just really good at guessing." She said and everyone laughed. "You lot are shitty gamblers, too. It's really quite easy. Right, James?" She asked and James nodded. "I'm assuming you cleaned this one up too?" She said and he grinned before the two high-fived.

"Course I did. Anyone with eyes and a decent understanding of the fact that Natalie was clingy and annoying could have called this a mile away." He said and Dany nodded.

"The writing was clearly on the wall. You guys really need to pay more attention, unless you _want_ to continue to bleed galleons right into my pocket." Dany added.

"Sorry we don't pay as much attention to Sirius' dating habits as you two." Alice said with a laugh. Dany shrugged.

"What can we say? It keeps life interesting." James said and Dany grinned as they all walked into the Entrance Hall.

"Oh Dan I meant to ask, what are you going to do if you end up in Madam Puddifoot's?" Alice asked and the other girls laughed. Dany crinkled her nose.

"Other than throw up in my mouth, you mean?"

"Yeah, other than that."

"I don't know. Cry?" She said and James rolled his eyes.

"If he takes you to Puddifoot's, he doesn't know you enough to deserve to date you." He said and Dany rolled her eyes. As much as he had a point, she had to admit that she had relatively unconventional views on Valentine's Day and wouldn't be surprised if he did take her there, purely because a lot of girls enjoyed the atmosphere. Or so she heard. She had made a point of never actually experiencing it.

"Well it's not like it's ever come up in conversation before. So who knows? If he does, I'll let you know if I manage to keep my lunch down through the cloying smell of floral perfume." She said with a grin. Everyone laughed and suddenly, Brady appeared. "Hey." She said and he smiled.

"Hi. You look great." He said and kissed her lightly.

"Thanks. Ready to go?" She asked and he nodded. Dany turned to her friends. "I'll see you guys later. Oh, and James watch Sirius' food. Someone's probably going to try to slip him a love potion." She said with a laugh and Sirius groaned.

"Bloody fantastic. Thank you, Dany. I'm going to be living paranoid now." He said and she shrugged.

"James can be your royal taste-tester. Alright, we're going." She said and walked off with Brady.

"Would someone seriously try to give him a love potion?" He asked and Dany nodded.

"It's not like it hasn't almost happened before. Lily bloody tackled a mug of butterbeer out of his hands one time because some random First Year slipped something in it when he was in the bathroom…they're all very fascinated apparently." She said, simultaneously revolted by the idea of using love potions and thinking that they had a very good reason to be interested. _No, we're not thinking that, Dany. You have a boyfriend._ She said told herself firmly, trying to turn her thoughts around. "It's rather horrid. It always gets _a lot_ worse when he's single too." She added on and Brady seemed unsympathetic.

"That's what happens when you jump from one girl to the next. All girls think that you're fair game. Especially when you don't have standards." He added on and Dany fought the urge to smack the back of his head.

"Well, why don't we change the subject? We're rehashing this for at least the hundredth time, Brady." She said and he seemed to agree with that.

"Alright, let's not talk about Black on Valentine's Day. I think I can work with that." He said and she laughed a little. It drove her crazy sometimes how much they hated each other.

"So, does that mean you have some grand master plan?" She asked, joking. He shrugged.

"It's Valentine's Day, Dan. It's a special day." He said and she fought the urge to smack her head into the closest heavy object. Damn. She was waiting for him to say Madam Puddifoot's.

"So, what is it? Whatever it is, please don't serenade me; that's just uncomfortable for everyone involved." She said and he laughed.

"No, no singing is involved. Neither is dancing, in case you were curious. I was thinking more along the lines of the Three Broomsticks and then the bookstore." He said and she smiled. Much better.

"That sounds fantastic, actually. And I'm relieved to hear that dancing, singing, and musicality of all types are absent in that plan." She said and they walked into the Three Broomsticks, holding hands.

"I figured that you'd appreciate that." He remarked and suddenly people started waving him down. Dany vaguely recognized Owen Quinn and Sam Jeffers, two of Brady's friends from Ravenclaw. "Well, it appears that we're being solicited." He added on and Dany laughed. "Do you mind? Just for a few minutes so I can get them off my back for the rest of the day." He said and Dany shrugged.

"Sure. As long as you lot don't start up drinking games or something." She said and he led her over to his friends.

"Harris! I see you're taking your girl out today. Damn it's that day again…I always forget." Owen said and Brady seemed mildly amused.

"That's probably because girls want nothing to do with you and so it's not ever really an issue." He said and Sam laughed.

"It's true, mate. They're just not interested." Sam added on. Brady sat down and Dany fought the urge to smack her head into the table. They were going to be here forever.

They were there the entire day and by the time that they walked back up to the castle, Brady, Sam, and Owen were so drunk off of butterbeer that they were all slightly stumbling. They were halfway back to the castle when Remus came tearing down the path, running right by them.

"Remus?" Dany asked blankly and he paused.

"Dan. Oh thank God." He said and walked back.

"What's going on?" She asked cautiously.

"You know how you were making fun of Sirius because someone was going to spike his drink?" He asked and Dany's eyes widened.

"No…" She said and he nodded. "Who is it?" She asked and Remus looked like he was trying really hard to not laugh.

"A Second Year. She left a picture near the drink. No idea what her name is, but he's trying to track her down to proclaim his undying love. We can't find Lily to make the antidote, either. I thought you might know where she is." He asked and she shook her head.

"I haven't got a clue…wait where's Sirius if he's not with you?" She asked suddenly and Remus' lips twitched. It was actually quite hilarious.

"James has him locked in our room. He was banging on the door, demanding to be let out so he can see his 'one true love' or some shit." He said and Dany snorted.

"Alright, well first of all I want to know who the girl is, mainly because I'm curious and I want to be able to torment him for the rest of our natural lives. And I can probably make the antidote; it's not terribly difficult from what I remember." She said thoughtfully. Everyone looked at her. "What? You think that this is the first time that this has happened? Come on, Remus." She said and turned back to her drunken boyfriend and his drunken friends. "I'll see you later, Brady." She said. Brady didn't take this well, probably due to the fact he was drunk.

"Oh, typical. Princess Danilynn runs off to go pick up Black's mess. Go on, _baby_. Go on and fix his problems." Dany rolled her eyes at the nasty tone.

"Brady, you're drunk. Go sleep it off." She said.

"I'm not drunk, I'm _honest_. You know it's true. But you can't fucking help it, can you? You can't stay away from him, no matter how many times I tell you to." He slurred.

"Brady. I'm—"

"Keep your mouth shut, Danilynn. I'm not done." He snapped and Dany narrowed her eyes.

"Yes you are. I'll talk to you when you're sober and no earlier." She said and walked off with Remus. She glanced at the werewolf, who had been watching her reproachfully. "Don't tell anyone. He's not a very nice drunk is all." She said softly and he nodded as they entered the castle, en route to Gryffindor tower.

She reached the boys' room with Remus. James was sitting up against the door. He looked quite excited that he was getting backup. Suddenly someone started banging on the door.

"I'll knock this bloody door over, James Potter! Let me the fuck out!" Sirius audibly yelled and Dany tried quite hard to not laugh.

"Has he said who he's hopelessly in love with yet?" She asked and James nodded.

"Yeah. I've never heard of her. Said her name's Rita something…what's her name, mate?" James asked through the door. Dany beat Sirius to the punch.

"Rita? You don't mean Rita Skeeter, do you?" Dany asked, disbelievingly. James nodded.

"Yeah, that's it. Why? You don't know her, do you?" He asked and Dany nodded.

"Her mom works for my dad's secretary…she pushes papers for a woman who pushes papers…that job makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. She's this little blonde thing, glasses? Annoying?" She clarified and they both nodded. "I can't give him the right antidote until I know what she gave him." She said and they both groaned. "But…lucky for you blokes, I'll be more than happy to figure that out. It's honestly just sad to hear him moping over a Second Year. I mean his usual girls aren't what I'd call impressive but at least they're not twelve." James and Remus both nodded in agreement.

"How do we find her?" Remus asked and Dany smirked.

"Well, we have two options. We could ask around for the rest of the day and maybe find her…or we could let Sirius out of that room and he can sniff her out like a bloodhound." She said with a grin. James started laughing and even Remus cracked a smile.

"I don't know, Dan…it would be funny but I don't know if I can do that to him. A Second Year is…" Remus started.

"Well I have no problem with it. Come on out, Sirius!" James said and opened the door. Sirius looked normal, except something was off around his eyes. He wasn't…completely with it.

"James, why were you trying to keep me from her? I thought you were my friend." He said, obviously hurt. Dany tried not to laugh at his face.

"Yeah, what the fuck, James? You're standing in the way of true love right now." She said and James glared at her. Remus snickered.

"Sorry." He muttered and Sirius seemed to be unsatisfied with that apology.

"Well, I'm going to go find Rita now. Excuse me." He said briskly and walked off. The three of them followed him slowly.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Dan?" Remus asked and she nodded.

"It should. She gave him a pretty strong dose, judging by the effects. It's overriding friendships he's had for years. He'll be able to find her; the strong ones have that effect. It's part of the literal 'attraction' that it simulates." She said quietly as Sirius abruptly turned a corner, into an almost completely unused end of the castle.

"That's really creepy." James muttered and Dany nodded.

"No kidding…now once we see her, you two need to grab him and preferably get him to shut up. I can't be nearly as scary when he's shouting hurtful things at me. I have feelings too, you know." She said and they both nodded. "That and we don't need them running away together." She added and the boys both snickered. Suddenly, a little blonde girl was visible as they turned another corner. She was all frizzy hair, disproportional limbs, and glasses. "Grab him." She said and James grabbed his best friend. Sirius automatically took a swing at him. Dany ignored that and Rita looked bloody terrified.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Let him go! What's wrong with you people?" She was saying to James and Remus. She apparently hadn't noticed that she was no longer the only girl in the corridor.

"Us? You bloody drugged him!" James yelled as he ducked another of Sirius' fists.

"Dan, get her to tell you what the potion was." Remus grunted as he got an elbow to the stomach. Rita noticed her for the first time.

"Rita. Lovely to see you." She said cheerily. Rita looked like someone had hit her across the face; she had apparently quite forgotten that she was friends with Sirius.

"What are you doing here?" She asked and Dany rolled her eyes.

"Well, I do believe that we're all here for the same reason. What did you give him?" She asked sharply and Rita shook her head.

"I didn't give him anything. He's just—"

"If you say 'in love', I'll just laugh; I hope you realize that." She said and Rita looked surprised.

"He has to love someone." She said pointedly and Dany heard Sirius finally hit James in the face. That distracted her from the idiocy of that statement.

"Oh, fuck!" James yelled and clutched at his nose. Remus was still trying to get Sirius under control. They were running out of time.

"Alright Rita, here's the deal. Tell me what you gave him or so help me God, I'll make your life a living hell." Dany said and grabbed her by the shirt. "Believe me, you don't really want to go down that road." She hissed and Rita nodded.

"Alright, I gave him—oh my God!" She yelled. Sirius had broken free of Remus and was now dragging Dany away from Rita by her hair. Oh that hurt so fucking much. Oh shit.

"Sirius Orion Black let go of my fucking hair!" She screamed at him.

"Back off of Rita!" He yelled back.

"Do you hear yourself? You're really going to hit your best friends and drag me around by my hair over a Second Year? Ow! Sirius, stop; I'm not joking, that really hurts." He didn't stop and Dany was pretty sure she was on the verge of losing all of her hair as she stumbled backwards, the direction her hair was being pulled in; it hurt so much that it brought tears to her eyes. "Stop, stop, stop. Please stop, that hurts so much. Please, just stop." She said, without any permission from her higher-level thinking; the words had just come out of her mouth before she could stop them. She could feel his hands yanking at the roots of her hair and it really bloody hurt.

"Rita, make him stop! He's going to hurt her!" James was yelling at the young girl as Dany was considering the fact that she was going to have her scalp ripped off by one of her best friends.

"What? I don't know how!" She yelled back.

"Tell him to stop!" Remus yelled and Sirius had apparently decided that this was far enough from Rita because he dropped her unceremoniously onto the stone floor. She felt her knees and hands take the impact, and sure enough, both of her hands started to bleed almost immediately, leaving red smears on the stone.

"Oh my God. Stop!" Rita yelled and Sirius immediately backed off of Dany, James, and Remus. "Here, I have the antidote here. Just in case." She said and Dany scowled at her.

"Nice of you to mention that earlier." She snapped from her position on the ground. Rita looked embarrassed and handed it to Sirius. He unquestioningly drank it and immediately looked incredibly confused, apparently exiting his love-induced stupor. James carefully helped Dany to her feet.

"That looked like it stung." He said and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, it really does…damn I think my scalp might be bleeding he pulled so hard." She muttered and James looked at her head.

"No, you're good. Don't get me wrong, it looks red and angry up there, but you're not bleeding." He said.

"Guys." Remus said. They both looked over and Sirius appeared like he was now coherent.

"What the hell? Why are we in this corridor? Who are you?" He asked Rita, who seemed embarrassed. "Dany, why aren't you on your date? Are you _bleeding_?" He asked, obviously confused and concerned.

"Rita I should fucking kill you." James snapped. "Look what you did. She got hurt because of what you did. I should drag you by _your_ hair all the way across the fucking castle." He hissed and then gently looked at his Godsister's hands. "Good thing you were in jeans. That would have really screwed your knees up." He said quietly to her and she nodded as he took her hands into his, palms up, to get a closer look.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Sirius asked no one in particular.

"I'll tell you." James said loudly. "Rita here drugged you up with what has to be the strongest love potion in the freaking world. When we noticed, we locked you up and tried to find the antidote. But we didn't know what you had taken so we went to find her. But no one could find her so we let you out of our room because you would undoubtedly try to go find her. Unfortunately, when Dany tried to get Rita to tell her what she gave you, you dragged her down this hallway _by her_ _hair._ You dropped her on the ground pretty hard too. Nice job, Skeeter." James snapped and Remus didn't look overly pleased either. "Oh, yeah and you punched me in the face. Thanks for that." He added on bitterly. Sirius looked shocked by this whole turn of events.

"What? There's no way I dragged her anywhere, let alone by her hair." He said and looked over at Dany, really noticing her bloody hands. "Oh God. Dan, I'm so sorry. I don't remember a damn thing." He said and she nodded.

"I'd say that I'm okay, but I'm really not right now. I think I'm going to take myself to the hospital wing to get this looked at; Pomfrey should probably have a look at my head too." She said quietly. James put an arm around her.

"You're not going anywhere on your own with hands like that, Little Godsister; I'll walk you there." He said and Dany nodded gratefully, watching the blood ooze out of her palms. Her scalp was still throbbing. Sirius took a wary step away from Rita and towards Dany and James. "Rita, come here. Come look at what you did." James snapped. "No, I'm not fucking joking. Come here." He snapped and Rita walked over. James pointed to the ground. The blood from where Dany had ripped her hands open was still bright red against the grey stone floors.

"Shit, did I do that?" Sirius said abruptly. Dany nodded a little, eyeing him warily. She saw the unmistakable look of guilt cross his face. "God, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He said quietly and Dany nodded.

"Thank you." She said. "You didn't know what you were doing…I'll just have that residual image stuck in my head for a while, is all." She said and he still looked like he was mildly ashamed.

* * *

"…I'll just have that residual image stuck in my head for a while, is all." Lily heard from down an unused corridor. It was Dany. She looked down the corridor and saw something that immediately meant trouble. James had an arm around Dany. Every time James assumed his position of her big brother, there was something wrong with Dany.

"Dan?" Lily asked and they all turned around. Lily noticed that Sirius, Remus, and a young girl she didn't know were all still there. The girl looked like she was there because she had no way out.

"Lily. Why aren't you down at dinner?" Dany asked. Something was wrong. She was controlled and she didn't miss the way that James was watching her. She also didn't miss the completely guilt-ridden look on Sirius' face. Then she saw Dany's hands.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She said and rushed forward, taking her friend's hands. "Did you fall? These are deep…you need Madam Pomfrey, Sweetie." She said and Dany nodded.

"I know. James was about ready to walk me there. I fell." She said and everyone exchanged looks. She was lying.

"I'll take her James, you clearly have some cleaning up to do with this lot." He nodded at her. He apparently trusted Lily with the Godsister he adored so much. "And that's bullshit. What really happened?" She asked and Dany bit her lip.

"Well, about that…Sirius was slipped a love potion and didn't particularly like it when I threatened the, um, object of his affections." She said, clearly skirting around the details.

"Well okay. James, what happened?" She asked, turning directly to the obviously possessive and protective Godbrother.

"Lily, I don't think that this is—"

"Hush, Danilynn. James Potter what did he do to her?" She snapped.

"He pulled her by her hair and when he let go, she fell onto her hands." He said, not looking overly thrilled with the situation. Lily instantly became pissed. Love potion or not, he shouldn't be hurting her. Lily was the mother hen of her group and she knew it. And she also knew that this made her really pissed off.

"Lily, just take me to the hospital wing. I don't want to have to sit around and listen to this again. Please." Dany said quietly and Lily nodded. She put an arm around her friend and guided her out of the corridor. Dany was rather silent for a while.

"Dan, are you okay?" She asked her gently. Lily knew that her hands were the least of her problems. One of her best friends had just injured her. The only thing that really gave away that she wasn't fine was that her bloody hands were shaking.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine Lils. My hands sting a little but I'm okay." She said with a completely fake and forced smile.

"Danilynn."

"Okay, fine. I'm not okay because one of my closest friends dragged me a good ten feet by my hair and wouldn't stop no matter how many times I asked him to because a crazy fucking Second Year slipped him a love potion. And now I'm bleeding. So no Lily, I'm not okay." She said loudly and then fell very silent.

"Dan, he was drugged. He didn't know what he was doing…you have every right to be pissed and upset, but I'd keep that in mind. It wasn't really him and you know it." She said gently. Lily was rather pissed off but she wasn't going to fuel Dany's own anger. Lily was nowhere near as wrathful as her friend and this would fade soon if she didn't encourage Dany's own anger and hurt.

"I know it wasn't. But Lils it was his face. It's kind of hard to differentiate when the person intentionally hurting you is wearing the face of someone you've known and been friends with since you were eleven." She said quietly as the girls walked into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey walked out and looked unimpressed.

"Miss Masters if I had a sickle for every time you were in my ward…oh my, what happened to your hands?" She said, immediately more concerned.

"I fell…must have been all of the butterbeer from today." She said dismissively. Lily rolled her eyes. Of course she wasn't going to tell the Matron. Of course not. She couldn't stop herself from protecting him, even wounded and hurting. Even when she was upset with him, she would protect Sirius as best she could. Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue.

"Yes, well you're not the first that has ever happened to…take a seat, dear." She said and Dany sat down on one of the hospital beds. Lily sat in a chair near her. "Thank you for bringing her in, Miss Evans. It was a wise choice; these need to be dealt with immediately. Heavens knows that this castle isn't exactly clean; anything from these floors should most decidedly stay _outside_ of one's body. What Argus Filch does with all of his time is beyond me." She said and carefully took one of Dany's hands. "Yes…alright dear, I'll get this cleaned and mended in a jiffy." She said and waved her wand and the blood vanished and then she waved it again and the scrapes, which were so deep they were bordering on cuts, closed up.

"Thank you." Dany said and Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"It's not a problem, dearie. It's what I'm here for. Now be careful on your way back up those stairs to Gryffindor tower, you hear?" She asked and Dany nodded. Lily smiled at the Matron.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." She said and she nodded before ushering the two girls out of the hospital wing. "Dan, I really think you should probably just hole up in the room for tonight. You've had a rough day. I want to hear all about your day with Brady." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Really, Lils. It's not a huge deal; they're gone and I'm fine." She protested and Lily ignored her. She needed to take it easy; Lily didn't want to see her in any kind of precarious situation for at least the rest of the day.

"You're being overruled, Dan. Come on, let's get settled in." She said and the two girls walked up to the tower. Lily opened the portrait hole and Dany was back to smiling by the time they were in the common room. Dany quickly turned to Lily.

"Don't tell Marlene and Alice. Please. I…just don't, alright? I don't want this to go further than it already has." She said and Lily nodded, despite thinking that she should probably tell their friends.

"Okay. Now come on, let's go on upstairs." She said and Dany appeared to not hear her. She followed her gaze. Sirius. Damn. As bad as she felt for him, being drugged and all, she wasn't overly thrilled with the fact that she had just taken her best friend to the hospital wing. She needed someone to blame that was older than ten. He was staring at her like he felt bloody terrible. He probably did, from what James had said about him. Lily remembered something that Dany had said herself, years ago. "He doesn't hurt girls, Lils. I just don't think he has it in him." She had said, so sure of that. Lily had always thought she was right and she still thought that she was right. And now that Sirius was aware of what he had done, he looked terrible. He had a look on his face that said he was quite certain that he was now going to hell for placing his hands on her. "Do you want to go talk to him?" Lily asked quietly. Dany clearly hesitated.

"No, I think you're right. I think I need an early night." She said and Lily nodded before following her upstairs. Lily glanced back and saw Sirius say something to James. She followed Dany upstairs and the girls changed into sleep shorts and big t-shirts. Lily recognized Dany's as one of her dad's old Quidditch shirts.

"So, tell me about your day. Did Brady actually take you to Puddifoot's?" She asked and Dany smiled a little but shook her head.

"No, he didn't. It was such a relief that it never even came up in conversation." She said with a slight smile.

"Well, where did he take you?" Lily asked, leaning on an elbow, waiting to hear about her girlfriend's date.

"Well, he planned that we go to the Three Broomsticks and then the bookstore. Because I need more reading material that isn't endorsed by my father as 'quality lessons in leadership'." She said and Lily caught a word that shouldn't have been there.

"He just _planned_ that?"

"Yeah, well he ran into his friends at the Three Broomsticks and he asked if he could go say hi just to get them off of our backs so I said that I didn't care. I mean whatever, right?" Lily nodded. "Except he stayed with them all day, which meant so did I. We never did anything else today. And then on my way back to the castle with my drunk boyfriend and his friends, I ran into Remus who told me that someone had slipped Sirius a love potion. We had just enough time to get into a fight though. That was my day. Please tell me that yours was better." She said, looking optimistic for her friend.

"Truthfully, I just hung out with Marles. Alice and Frank broke off about half an hour in. There's a relationship on the horizon, I'm telling you." Lily said and Dany seemed interested by this.

"Oh, so they're starting to go on little date things? That's a positive sign. They'd be so good together. I hope they get it together here soon. Not to mention Marlene and Remus. Ugh, all of my friends would be adorable together." She said and smiled softly. "That means you and James, Lils." She pointed out. "Unless you want Sirius, which in that case, I'm surprised but whatever." She said with a wink and Lily snorted.

"Please, as if. I'm less likely to get with him than I am with James." She said with a wave of a hand and then clamped her mouth shut. Crap. Dany's eyes lit up.

"Oh, so there's a chance that you'd get with James? Hm, interesting…so tell me, Lillian. How long have you liked one James Potter?" She asked and Lily scowled.

"I don't like him. I…just think that Sirius is even less my type than James is; which apparently is possible. That's news to both of us." She said and Dany laughed.

"Well, I'll take your word for it. So, let's take a bet. Who's going to date first? Marlene and Remus or Alice and Frank?" She asked, a devious look in her eye. Lily knew better than to bet against that look, but humored her.

"Hm, Alice and Frank first." She said and Dany nodded.

"I'll take that bet…just a galleon?" She asked and Lily nodded. Dany was conservative with the stakes, which meant she had absolutely no idea. It could go either way, judging by the way she had hesitated and let Lily set the bet. The two girls shook on it and Lily pulled out a bag of chocolate. Dany laughed. "Bring me chocolate, Lillian!" She cried and they sat down on Lily's bed, eating chocolate and trying to bounce the crumpled up wrappers off each other's noses.

* * *

"I really grabbed her by the hair?" Sirius asked James for what had to be the ninth time.

"Yeah, you really grabbed her by the hair and you weren't letting go." James said and Sirius put his head in his hands. They were sitting in the common room and talking about what had exactly happened today. "Well, technically you let go but it was, uh, I think forceful would be a good word for it." He added on and Sirius realized just how horrible that was. He had looked around, once the potion had worn off, and had no idea how he had gotten there. There was some random girl who was probably like twelve behind him, Remus was standing not five feet from him, and James was cradling Dany's hands. He had seen the blood all over her palms.

"What the fuck? I can't remember a damn thing, man." He said and James clapped him on the back.

"It's okay, mate. Dan will forgive you. She knows that you weren't yourself. I mean you punched me in the nose and I forgave you." He said and Sirius didn't feel at all appeased.

"Can I see your memory?" He asked and James immediately answered.

"No. No way I'm letting you rewatch." He said and Sirius glared at him.

"I'm going to have to apologize, James. I should at least know what I'm saying sorry for." He said and James clearly deliberated.

"Fine. Lucky for you, there's such a thing as a portable pensieve and Dad Masters thought that it would be good for us to have."

"They come in portable sizes?"

"They do if you're Minister of Magic." James said with a shrug as they walked up to their room. James pulled the memory out of his head and appraised him. "Don't hold yourself too responsible. You were delusional and not yourself." He said and Sirius nodded, knowing full well that he was going to hold himself responsible.

 _James tried to grab his arms and Sirius automatically swung a fist at him, which he managed to duck._ Sirius paid little attention to what he, Remus, and James were doing and were watching Dany and the girl (who was apparently named Rita).

" _Rita. Lovely to see you." Dany said cheerily._

" _What are you doing here?" She asked and Dany rolled her eyes._

" _Well, I do believe that we're all here for the same reason. What did you give him?" She asked and Rita shook her head._

" _I didn't give him anything. He's just—"_

" _If you say 'in love', I'll just laugh; I hope you realize that." She said._ Sirius was rather insulted by that. Ouch. But then again, he hadn't exactly been a shining example of being a loving and/or caring boyfriend. He brushed it off.

" _He has to love_ someone _." She said._

" _Oh, fuck!" James yelled and clutched at his nose._ Sirius supposed that this was when Dany lost her patience and started to get aggressive with Rita, which is where things had gone downhill.

" _Alright Rita, here's the deal. Tell me what you gave him or so help me God, I'll make your life a living hell." Dany grabbed her by the shirt. "Believe me, you don't really want to go down that road." She hissed and Rita nodded._ Sirius believed her. That wasn't someone you wanted to fuck with.

" _Alright, I gave him—oh my God!"_ Sirius watched himself literally grab Dany's long hair and start dragging her backwards by it. He didn't miss the look of fear and pain cross her face.

" _Sirius Orion Black let go of my fucking hair!" She screamed as she tried to grab at his hands in an attempt to pry his hands off of her._

" _Back off of Rita!" He yelled back._ He seriously couldn't believe that he had yelled that of all things at her.

" _Do you hear yourself? You're really going to hit your best friends and drag me around by my hair over a Second Year? Ow! Sirius, stop; I'm not joking, that really hurts."_ Sirius clearly saw that there were tears starting to form. _"Stop, stop, stop. Please stop, that hurts so much. Please, just stop." She said._ He didn't stop. He didn't even look like he considered stopping. Holy shit.

" _Rita, make him stop! He's going to hurt her!" James yelled._

" _What? I don't know how!" She yelled back._

" _Tell him to stop!" Remus shouted._ Sirius watched himself abruptly drop Dany rather harshly and she caught herself on her hands and he saw the red smears that her hands left on the ground and he saw her wince and immediately take the weight off of her hands.

" _Oh my God. Stop!" Rita yelled and Sirius immediately backed off. "Here, I have the antidote here. Just in case." She said._

" _Nice of you to mention that earlier." Dany said, cradling her hands._

Sirius and James left the memory and James stuck it back in his head.

"What the fuck…I didn't stop. She was begging me to stop and I didn't. What the hell did she give me?" He said, more to himself. James clapped him on the back.

"No clue. Whatever it was, it was enough to override your actual feelings. Unless you no longer like Dany." He said as they walked back down to the common room. Sirius thought about it. He definitely still liked her. He definitely still liked her a lot.

"No, I do; I still like her…I feel violated now." He said and James nodded in agreement. Sirius glanced up as the portrait hole opened. Lily walked in, and so did Dany. They were halfway to their stairs when Dany looked up. Her hands were healed and she seemed to have bounced back rather quick. She looked at him, even making eye contact, as if she was thinking about something. Lily touched her shoulder and clearly asked her something. Dany shook her head and Lily nodded a little before they walked up the stairs. Fuck. Lily looked back at him one more time before she followed her friend up the stairs for real this time. Lily no longer looked angry.

"Give it time, man. They're probably going to go talk about Dan's super romantic Valentine's Day date or something." James said and Sirius nodded. This was a fucking disaster.

The next morning, the guys all woke up like any normal Sunday and Sirius, Remus, and James had decided to not tell the other two what had happened yesterday. They walked down to the Great Hall and the girls were already there, in the same places they always were. They approached and the girls looked up. Marlene and Alice were clearly oblivious, as they cheerily said hello and moved on quickly. Lily said hello in a much more subdued way and eyed Sirius cautiously. He didn't blame her. Dany smiled at him a little as she toyed with her pancakes. James kicked him under the table and looked at his Godsister pointedly, who was back to playing with her food. Sirius knew what that meant. _Apologize, you idiot_. He nodded at him and James went back to talking to Marlene.

"Hey, Dan?" He said. She looked up from her food again.

"Yeah?" She asked, perfectly polite.

"Can we talk outside for a minute?" He asked and she nodded before getting up and walking out of the Great Hall. He followed her after a second. He realized that he had no bloody idea what he was going to say. She was waiting in the Entrance Hall, sitting on the stairs up to the First Floor.

"What do you need, Sirius?" She asked and he was surprised. That was a strange question. Not 'what do you want'. 'What do you need' seemed…strange.

"I convinced James to show me what happened yesterday." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"And? You clearly aren't lacking in upper body strength, if that's what you were wondering. That punch you gave James was rough." She said dryly. He sat down about two feet away from her on the stairs.

"Yeah…he let me fix his face and he forgave me pretty quickly after that. How are your hands?" He asked and she looked down at them.

"They're fine. Madam Pomfrey fixed them in a heartbeat." She said with a shrug. "I told her that I tripped because I had drank too much butterbeer, in case you were wondering. You don't have to worry about McGonagall coming after you for assault or anything." She added on and Sirius hadn't even considered that he could be in some serious trouble for what had happened.

"Thanks…look, I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened. You didn't deserve what I did."

"Sirius, you weren't—"

"Just let me finish, okay?" She nodded, falling silent. "I'm really sorry that I dragged you by your hair and I'm even more sorry that I didn't let go of you when you asked me to. I'm sorry for the whole thing, I really am. James didn't want to show me because he thought I'd hold myself responsible and I do. And I think I should; even if I wasn't in my right mind, you'll always have the memory of that one time I hurt you over a Second Year." He said quietly. She nodded.

"Thank you for apologizing. And I don't blame you, I really don't. But you're right; I'll always have that memory of being terrified because one of my best friends was dragging me around like a ragdoll. Even so, you shouldn't hold yourself responsible. The only person that's responsible is the psycho twelve year old that drugged you." She said.

"I can't believe that she _actually_ drugged me." He said disbelievingly and she giggled a little.

"It's kind of funny." She said, obviously attempting not to laugh. She was failing.

"It's not funny." He said and she continued to giggle.

"It's pretty funny." She said and started to really laugh.

"Okay, it's pretty funny. I was actually declaring my undying love for a _Second Year_ …that's bloody terrible." He groaned and she continued to laugh more and more.

"I'm not even really mad it's so funny. Sirius Black goes through pretty girls like there's a never-ending supply and the first one he actually fights for is a dorky Second Year that slipped something into his food." She laughed and he shrugged. Visible tears were starting to form in her eyes she was laughing so hard.

"I don't think that this is the normal time to use the term 'jailbait', but if the shoe fits…" He said and she continued at laugh to such an extent that she snorted. She abruptly stopped and looked at him, as if she was hoping he hadn't heard that. He started laughing at her and she started laughing too, mainly out of embarrassment, he guessed. Her face started to turn red.

"Don't ever tell anyone that you heard that! That's so embarrassing. I can't believe that I just snorted. I sound like a pig." She laughed and covered her face with a hand.

"I'll take it with me to the grave." He said and she laughed a little. He abruptly snorted and she started laughing again.

"Shut up! Ugh, I'm never going to hear the end of that." She said and shook her head faintly.

"No, you're really not. You're a vision of etiquette and dignity, Danilynn." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, that's me. Just ask the newspaper." She said dryly.

"Oh, I'm sure they have nothing but good things to say about you _and_ your manners." He teased and she rolled her eyes.

"More like 'Danilynn Masters spotted in Hogsmeade with group of mystery men'. It's like I was caught in a harem." She said with a wave of her hand. "They were Brady's friends. It wasn't what I'd call super exciting. They were all just blabbering on about Quidditch. It was _so_ boring. Definitely _not_ the ideal date." She added on and Sirius was interested in this.

"You go to the games." He said and she shrugged.

"Yeah because Gryffindor's my team and I have friends that play. I don't really care about what scandal happened ten years ago on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. No offense to them, but honestly I thought I was going to claw my ears off if I had to listen to that for any longer." She said with a shrug. "I suppose I should thank you for getting drugged. It gave me an excuse to leave my drunk boyfriend with his drunk friends." She said.

"He got drunk?" Not super impressive for a date, even he had to admit.

"Yeah, they were all pretty messed up by the time we started to head back to the castle. Don't get me wrong, I like Brady but he's kind of an asshole when he's drunk…he says some not-so-nice things." She said and tugged on the sleeves of the giant shirt she was wearing with over her jeans. Sirius realized that it was a Quidditch shirt.

"Well that's charming…and rather belittling. Then again, I'm an asshole when I'm drunk too, so I'm in no place to talk." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah…don't tell anyone that I said that; about Brady I mean. That's not a fight that I want to have." She said and he nodded. He wondered who from Gryffindor had given her their jersey.

"No problem. That I actually _will_ take to the grave…unlike the fact that you snort when you laugh." He said and she rolled her eyes. "Whose shirt is that?" He asked and she looked down.

"Oh, it's my dad's from when he was on the team. He gave it to me when I was little. It went down to my ankles and the sleeves dragged on the ground when it became mine. I was probably six or seven." She said and turned around, moving her hair. Sure enough, above the number 3 on the back was the name Masters in faded letters. She turned back around a second later. "I've grown into it some, but I'll never be able to wear it as anything except a sleep shirt and a shirt for days where I actually don't give a fuck." She said cheerily. He examined it and the fabric was broken in and everything was severely faded, to the point that it was hard to identify as a Quidditch shirt, unless you were intimately familiar with the design.

"It's clearly been loved." He commented and she nodded.

"It's had a lot of owners. As a matter of fact, the only person in my family that _hasn't_ had ownership of this shirt is Rhaegar." She said with a shrug.

"What? When would that have been Rhea's?" He asked and she smiled a little.

"Just because you don't give your shirts to your girlfriends doesn't mean that everyone's the same way, Sirius." She said and he realized that she was right; it was actually a pretty common practice. Guys on the team used it as a way to literally write their names on their girlfriends. "Dad got a new one so he gave this one to my mom when they were still in school. When they got married, it entered the communal closet of 'Dad's clothes that Mom steals to sleep in' and then Dad gave it to me." She said. "It's really comfortable and I think Mom was sad when he gave it to me because she lost access to it."

"Wow, you all have all the money in the world and you're fighting over a single shirt. That's like twenty years old." He said and she nodded.

"When you have all the money in the world, the really important stuff is easier to see, you know?" She said with a small smile. People started to trickle out of the Great Hall.

"We should probably get out of everyone's way…we're in the middle of the stairs." He said, despite being sad that the very rare of experience of one-on-one time with Dany was coming to a close. She was almost impossible to get alone these days, with Brady and whatnot. She nodded and stood up with him. She saw Brady and waved. He looked like his very existence hurt him right now. Such are hangovers. His apparently atrocious hangover didn't stop him from waving back. She started to walk over to him and paused and walked back.

"Hey Sirius? I don't blame you. I really don't. And neither should you." She quickly hugged him, taking him by surprise. He hugged her back, making sure that everything looked _super_ platonic. He didn't want her getting into some massive fight with Brady over the infidelity that didn't exist. "Don't ever tell anyone that I snort when I laugh." She added on seriously once she had let go of him. He snorted at her and she laughed before walking away with her boyfriend, yelling, "you suck!" at him from over her shoulder.


	18. Have Mercy

_Hi! I was so excited to see the positive feedback I got when I updated so I promise to try and be much better about it._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

 _Also, be sure to check out the AN at the bottom!_

* * *

 _Please have mercy on me_  
 _Take it easy on my heart_  
 _Even though you don't mean to hurt me_  
 _You keep tearing me apart_  
 _Would you please have mercy on me_  
 _I'm a puppet on your strings_  
 _And even though you got good intentions_  
 _I need you to set me free_  
 _Would you please have mercy_

 _~Mercy,_ Shawn Mendes

* * *

James woke up one morning, like any other school day, and he and the rest of the guys dragged themselves down to breakfast. Suddenly, Alison Hayden appeared. It had taken Sirius a week to find a new girl after Valentine's Day and as March approached, she was beginning to become more and more obnoxious. Dany and Sirius had mended things up and seemed even closer (if that was really possible without dating each other) after the incident with the love potion and Brady and Sirius were at each other's throats more and more. James thought that this was going to end incredibly poorly, but didn't say anything on the subject to anyone except Remus, who agreed wholeheartedly.

The girls didn't even bother to look up as Alison walked over and sat down between Dany and Sirius, in debatably the world's smallest space. James thought it was rather poetic. Maybe they could squeeze Brady in there too. Dany glanced up, as her personal space was severely invaded. Alison, who went by Ali, looked over at her disdainfully.

"Masters."

"Hayden."

"So, Dany. Have you done the potions essay?" Lily abruptly said. Dany broke her glare at Ali and started talking to Lily. Awkward. James was so bloody tired he wanted to fall over, and judging by the look on Sirius, Frank, and Peter's faces, they felt the same way. Once Remus had gone to bed, they had all slipped out and worked on the transformation almost all night. They were doing well, they were more than halfway there and no one had yet to die. That was considered a fantastic success in terms of illegally becoming animagi. Remus had no idea, which was how they all wanted it, until it was too late for him to try and stop them. Frank thought it would be better as a surprise, anyways. James watched Alice talking to Frank, who looked like he was half-asleep. Poor boy. Despite his obvious sleep-deprivation, Frank was answering her questions and smiling. Love was a weird thing. Suddenly, Toby walked over.

"Black, Potter. We have practice tonight at six. Sorry for the last minute notice." He said and James nodded. Toby got no response from Sirius, who was rather occupied with putting his tongue in his girlfriend's mouth.

"Sure thing, Toby." James said and Toby glanced at Sirius again. "I'll tell him. Don't subject yourself for longer than needed." He added on and Toby looked at him gratefully.

"Thanks. Bloody disgusting." He muttered and everyone made a sound of agreement. Toby walked away with a parting word to his chaser. Damn, he had a lot of work tonight.

"So Remus…you wouldn't mind helping me out with my Potions essay, would you?" He asked casually and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Sure…you owe me though." He said and James nodded.

"I really do. You have my undying gratitude." He said and Remus shook his head faintly.

"Oh, I better. James Potter if I had a sickle for every time…" He trailed off and James grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. We know. You'd be richer than Dany if you had a sickle for every time you helped me with my homework." He said and Dany looked up.

"Oi! Why am I always the standard for wealth? Black here isn't from a family of squalor and last time I checked, you don't live in a hovel either, James." She said and James waved a hand dismissively.

"Please, be that as it may, your family still has more money than God. And more money than both of our," He gestured to himself and Sirius, "families combined." He said and she shrugged.

"It's my parents money, not mine." She said through a mouthful of cereal. James rolled his eyes and let the topic drop.

"We need to get to class." Lily said everyone started to gather his or her things. "Remus, break them up." She said and gestured to Sirius and Ali. Remus sighed and threw a piece of toast at Sirius.

"Sirius. Sirius, come on. We have class. Remove your tongue from her mouth, please." He said, bored. Sirius stopped snogging his girlfriend and looked up.

"Sure thing. Let's go." He said and got up to get his bag like he hadn't just been snogging his girlfriend. So all in all, a pretty normal day so far. "What do we have? Care of Magical Creatures?" He asked and the group nodded in general agreement. They walked down and out of the castle. Unfortunately Ali was in the class with them, so they all were subjected to her blabbering. She was pretty typical of Sirius' girlfriends. She was short, a fake blonde, cute, shallow, peppy, and wore way too much makeup. They all reached the field that the class was held in and looked around. No Professor. Weird. They all stood around for a while and finally someone enacted the fifteen-minute rule—the renowned "if he isn't here within the next fifteen minutes, we all leave" rule. It was some Slytherin bloke. Unfortunately, five minutes later, their professor appeared to the sounds of quiet sighs of disappointment.

"Hello, hello everyone! Now, today is a very exciting class! Normally, I wouldn't even consider doing this with Fourth Years, but this is such a rare opportunity that I'm showing all of my classes. Of course the little kids have to stay _very_ far away, but even they get to see. Wouldn't you agree that this is exciting?" He said and Lily raised her hand.

"Um, Professor? You haven't told us what it is that we're doing today." James was relieved someone had bothered to ask.

"Thank you, Lily. I almost forgot I got so excited there for a minute. Believe it or not, some wizards are passing through as they're moving two dragons from Romania to the States. They are being housed here and have agreed to let the students see the dragons and speak about them." He said and immediately people started talking. Dragons. Actual dragons.

"Excited?" James whispered and Dany nodded. She had always been fascinated for some reason. Rhaegar had always called it a dumb interest.

"So excited. They're so intelligent. They're not brutes; they can talk to you sort of. They really just hear your thoughts." She said and James raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yup. I have a few relatives that used to work with dragons. That's what their journals all say, at least." She said with a shrug as they all followed their professor.

"What are you going to do if the dragon talks to you?" He teased and she rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, asshole. Besides, they only speak to people that they've known for years and trust." James' hope of seeing something really cool was crushed.

"How do they recognize people? We all kind of look the same." He asked and she thought for a second. He was really testing her memory, apparently.

"I think by smell. I'm not positive, but that's my best guess…so I think we all need to appreciate that Alison looks like she's going to pass out. She's actually going to be hiding behind Sirius the entire time, isn't she?" Sure enough, she was discreetly hiding behind her boyfriend. Impressive. "This is why there's gender inequality in the world. It's girls like her." She sniffed and suddenly, they entered another clearing in the woods. There were five men, three women, and two actual dragons.

"Don't worry, everyone. They're behind an invisible barrier that Professor Dumbledore placed there himself. You're in no danger." One of the women said and everyone walked closer. "Yes, yes it's okay." She said and they eventually all crowded around the eight people and the dragons.

"Hello everyone. I'm Jill Davidson and I work in Romania with dragons. I'm originally from Britain but moved out there to follow my love for the great beasts. Everyone I'm travelling with is quite shy so I do believe I'll be doing all of the talking." She said. "Now, _this_ is Ragnis," She gestured to the smaller purple dragon, "he's about fifty, just about sixteen or seventeen, in human years. And _this_ is Katla. She's quite a bit older. She'd be up in her eighties if she were human. She's about, believe it or not, two thousand years old." She said and people immediately started whispering, looking at the much larger black dragon. That was really fucking old. "She's rather nice though. Ragnis is a bit more…well he's fierier. Please ignore the pun." She said and people laughed. "So, I suppose I'll start by answering questions?"

"How do you know she's two thousand years old?" Someone asked from the back of the class. James thought that was a very good question.

"Well, first of all, she told us. Secondly, there're some accounts, from back when Muggles believed in magic and such, of a black dragon flying through the skies and striking fear into people."

"They can talk?"

"They can communicate in certain ways. Any form of direct communication is mental and exceptionally rare. They can work their way into your mind and speak to you, but usually never more than a sentence or two. They both know English, if you're curious. They talk to each other more than anything." She said with a smile. "Ourselves, we've only spoken to Ragnis a few times each and Katla hasn't spoken to a handler for almost three hundred years." She suddenly looked back at the dragons, a strange look on her face. She looked over at her companions.

"Is everything alright, Jill?" One of them asked and she shook her head.

"She just spoke."

"What?"

"Katla. She just spoke." She said and they all looked at the dragon. "She wants to speak to one of the students." She said and they all exchanged looks. Dany looked like someone had hit her in the face she was so surprised.

"Who does she want to talk to?"

"She says that there's someone here with the old magic in their veins, she says she can smell the old blood." She said and the handlers all started muttering. That could be any Pureblood here. "How old are you all? Fourth Years? Danilynn Masters wouldn't happen to be in this class, would she?" She asked and Dany looked like she was so confused she was about ready to pass out. She raised her hand.

* * *

Dragon Emilia had been a relative, an indirect one, but still she bore the surname. Dany had heard Katla's voice in her head as soon as she had walked into the clearing. _Hello, little one._ It became quickly apparent that she was the only one hearing this. _I have waited for three hundred years to feel the presence of your blood again._ Then apparently Katla had become impatient and had gone to her handler to call her up. Now, she was looking at the giant dragon up-close and personal.

"Um, hello." She said and the dragon seemed impassive.

 _You are the blood of Emilia. I can smell her on you. You are blood of Katherine. You carry the old ways in your blood, little one._ Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I've heard…how do you know the names of my relatives?" She asked and everyone started whispering even louder. The handlers asked for quiet.

 _I knew them once, a long time ago. I am very old and I remember your family from before civilization put out the fire in your blood, they were ruthless and bloody. You remind me of her, little one. You remind me of Katherine. You carry Emilia's blood but she did not have this soft of a mind. Katherine was kind. She was kind and she was deadly, but she did not have the fire of Emilia._ She had the voice of a young woman, despite supposedly being the equivalent age of eighty-five or so.

"Is that a compliment?" She asked. Katla moved her big head back and forth.

 _There is no compliment. Dragons must have fire in their blood to survive. Yes, you remind me of Katherine Masters. She was so kind, so deadly. She loved her father. She did horrible things for her family…yes, some horrible things. She disobeyed though. No one ever talks about the man she loved._ Dany was surprised.

"She disobeyed?" She asked and people started murmuring.

 _She did. She loved her father more than anyone…until him. She defied her beloved father for the man she gave her heart to. Your mind is so like Katherine…you would disobey for a man, wouldn't you, little one? I believe so; it's all right here. You could put aside that soft and gentle heart to protect those you love._ Dany had no idea how to answer that. _You can and you will—one day._

"Is there a reason you wanted to speak to me?" She asked cautiously.

 _I wished to speak once more to the blood of Emilia. She is the only human I have ever met that had enough fire in her to be a dragon. Tell me, do you have siblings?_

"I have a brother." She said.

 _Does he have the fire?_ Dany hesitated and then shook her head. Rhaegar had a lot of things (like a huge ego for one), but that wasn't one of them. _I thought not. Men almost never do. It has been a pleasure, little one. Thank you for letting me feel Emilia's presence once more._

"Thank you for letting me speak to you." She said and before Dany could say anything else, Katla touched her snout to the ground. It looked like a bow. "I think it's over." Dany said to Jill and she nodded.

"What did she say?"

"She…she said that I reminded her of someone; one of my ancestors." She said and Jill slowly guided her back to the group of her peers. All of her friends immediately rushed over to her.

"Dan. What the hell?" Lily asked and hugged her.

"Lily. Lily, I just stood there. I was in no actual danger." She said into her friend's hair. She was being clung onto by Lily and was getting a face full of her red hair. "I can't breathe through your hair." She sputtered and Lily let go.

"Well congratulations on having the weirdest life ever." James commented. "What did she want?"

"She said that I smelled like the old blood." Dany said and thought that this was the weirdest Wednesday that she had ever experienced. "She said that she knew my family a long time ago, when it was 'bloody'…this whole day has been fucking bizarre. She said that I reminded her of someone." She said.

"Who did you remind her of?" James asked.

"She said I reminded her of Katherine." She said and Sirius looked up from where Ali was hiding behind him. They all started to walk back up to the castle.

"Katherine as in Ethan's daughter Katherine?" Sirius asked. Dany nodded.

"Who is she?" Lily asked and everyone except Sirius and James shrugged.

"Go ahead, James." Dany said and he looked thrilled he got to tell the story.

"When Ethan built the Ministry, his wife was already dead and he had only a son and daughter left. Nathaniel was the son; he's Daniel, Dany, and Rhaegar's direct ancestor. The daughter was named Katherine. Ethan thought that having only men in control was a bad idea; he thought that it would lead to too many conflicts, but his wife was dead so he instated his daughter into the Ministry until Nathaniel took over. She was his closest confidant and most trusted advisor. When Nathaniel married and became Minister, she stepped down from her position because she was tired of the politics and so the patrilineal line of the family took over completely." James said. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Do we know anything about her as a person?" Lily asked, intrigued.

"There are a few accounts of Katherine, actually. She never married and she died at sixty." Dany said and Sirius laughed a little as they walked back into the common room. Apparently Ali was coming with them. They all sat down on the floor by the fire.

"Not to interrupt, but I think Lily was asking about her as a human being and not a bunch of facts, Dan." Sirius said and she shrugged.

"Sorry. Well do you want to give the history lesson then?" She asked and he looked like he hadn't seen that coming.

"Hey, you really think that I didn't have your family line force fed to me as a kid? Please, you have some of the purest blood on this continent. You heard the dragon; you still have so much of the old blood she could _smell_ it."

"It's like having body odor." She said and he laughed.

"What's the old blood?" Marlene asked, sitting down with Alice, Remus, and Frank. Dany didn't bother to respond, she never really liked throwing her lineage in people's faces. It kind of made her uncomfortable.

"Before there were wands and such—that's to say that before modern magic, there was a different kind. It's dead these days and not even the very old even have an idea as to how to perform it. It's elemental magic and it lived in the blood. It's not like our idea of magic is; it's where the idea of blood status came from. It used to be that the more of the blood that a witch or wizard had, the stronger the magic." James said and Dany nodded.

"A lot of Purebloods still hold onto that and insist that they're better than Muggleborns because they still have traces of the old blood. It's almost all gone now because wizards would have children with Muggles and it was so long ago that people forgot and he supposed 'Purebloods' have mostly Muggle blood." Dany said.

"Except for your family." Sirius added on and Dany glanced at him as if to say 'shut up. I don't like talking about it'. He rolled his eyes, but didn't continue.

"What does he mean, Dan?" Remus asked and Dany shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. No one even knows how to use the old blood anymore. All it's good for is waving it in other people's faces, which I personally find classless." She said with a shrug and James rolled his eyes.

"Dany's family never married outside of the magical community because of the position they held so the blood was really never diluted. I mean you can't be bringing Muggles into the mix when you're the head of the _Wizarding_ Community; you need someone who grew up in it and knows the way things work. There's some Muggle in there through a couple of marriages to some witches that had a Muggleborn grandparent, but for the most part the family is still pureblooded. Truly, Pureblooded and not what we conceive as Pureblood." Sirius said. Dany nodded.

"Well he's not lying." She said with a shrug and James started laughing.

"Aw, it's too bad that you lot are such disgraces to the rest of the Pureblood families; Walburga probably would have been trying to marry you into her family." James said and Sirius and Dany both coughed.

"Excuse me?" Lily said and they both glared at him.

"Like it's not true? You both know just as well as I do that if the Masters family was still 'respectable' to your family's lot, that's exactly what would happen. You're the exact same age and he's heir to one of the oldest families left; that never happens. If it wasn't for this war and for the clash over blood supremacy, you two probably would be engaged already, hell you'd probably be getting married the second you both turned seventeen. Babies would be on the way by eighteen." James said with a shrug. Dany rolled her eyes and Sirius looked mortified by the thought of children. Like this was the first time James had said this to her.

"Please James, I really don't think that ever would have happened, war or not." Sirius said and Dany agreed with that.

"Yeah, they haven't been in our fan club in a long time. What do they always call us? 'White-haired monstrosities'?" She said and Sirius nodded in confirmation.

"Yup. My mother also thinks that you all have two brain cells combined." He threw in and she laughed.

"Well, that's a pity. But anyways, that's who Katherine Masters is." She said, trying to change the topic back.

"So we know nothing about her personally?" Alice asked, looking disappointed. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Not really, at least I don't. Katla, the dragon, she said something though. Something that I've never heard before…she said that she disobeyed her family." She said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"What? Didn't she love her father pretty blindly? She was Ethan's most valuable asset because she was so loyal." He said and she shrugged.

"That's what I thought. Look, Katla said that she disobeyed her father and no one ever talks about it. She said that no one ever talks about the man she loved. She said that she loved her father more than anything until she gave her heart to a man. I've never heard anything about this." She said and Lily's eyes lit up.

"Dan, what if it's a love story? What if it was forbidden love?" She asked breathlessly. Dany shrugged.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't _Romeo and Juliet_ and second, we'll never know if no one ever talked about it. Odds are, no one even remembers who the guy was." She said. "If they didn't get married, he probably never made it into the books…" She trailed off. Then she realized she was wrong. He would have made it into at least one. "Except for Katherine's diary. If she had loved him, she would have written about him." She said and all of the girls perked up. Even Ali looked interested, despite hating Dany herself.

"How do you know that?" James asked.

"Girls write about the boys they love. Trust me, I think that it's instinctual or something." She said. "If he's going to be anywhere, it'll be there." She added on.

"Dan, you should write your dad, ask him to send it to you." Marlene said and Dany shook her head.

"There's no point; no way he'd send something like that in the post. It's a family heirloom." She said and they all looked disappointed. Well, the girls did. The guys looked rather relieved that they didn't have to listen to this any longer.

"That's too bad. That would have been interesting; besides, if anyone's family was going to have some great love story, it would be yours." Lily said and Dany shrugged. "Well I think we can pick this up later. We need to go do homework; come on girls." She said briskly and they all groaned.

"Lily…"

"Why do you hate us?"

"I thought you were my friend…"

"I don't hate you, but you're going to hate your grade if you don't do your work." She said briskly and kicked Dany in the leg gently. Homework my ass, she thought; Lily wanted to have a girls only talk. Dany waved a hand and stood up.

"Alright…let's go ladies." She said and they all left, leaving Remus, James, Sirius, and Ali behind them in the common room.

* * *

The moment Dany had said that Katherine Masters had disobeyed her father and brother for a man, Lily not only felt her heart melt, but her stomach twist. The young woman who was apparently so much like her friend had gone against her father for love. It would be just like Dany to do that shit and in a time like this, that could be very, _very_ bad. Except she didn't really love Brady like she said she did. She liked him, but she'd never consider going against her brother, let alone her father, who was her best friend and closest confidant, for him. Lily had never even heard her mention that she had gone against her father except over things she saw as concerns to her friends' safety.

She had defied her mother and had written to Sirius when Daniel had been in the hospital, but she couldn't think of a time when she had ignored her father. Lily didn't think that it would be Brady Harris to get her to throw away her respect for her father's wishes. Sure, he was nice and an okay boyfriend, but he would never really understand her on anything more than a skin-deep level.

They all reached their room and Lily immediately turned to Dany. She looked intrigued by what she had to say.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Okay, so can we talk about this great love story without the guys there for a minute? You said that you reminded Katla of Katherine?" Dany nodded. "And Katherine disobeyed for father for a man?" She nodded again. "But we don't know who he is, right?" Dany nodded.

"Yeah, we don't know anything about him except that he probably wasn't a shining example of respectable for some reason." She said with a shrug.

"Except we _do_. Because you're just like Katherine. If you're like her, you probably have similar tastes in men."

"You think she did all of this for some guy like Brady? No offense to him." Marlene asked skeptically. Dany waved a hand.

"No, well maybe, but what I meant was a similar taste in who you'd go against your father and brother for. Not who your boyfriend is. Who would you defy Daniel for?" She said and Dany nodded.

"It's not a bad theory. And the list is pretty short, especially if we're just talking about guys." She said and they all looked at her. They all knew who was on the list and it was two people long.

"James and Sirius." Alice said and she nodded.

"Is it horrible that Brady isn't on that list?" She asked quietly. Yes.

"No…you've just known James and Sirius for longer." Lily said, not sharing her thought about just how unpromising that was for her relationship. "It's still kind of a new relationship is all." She added on supportively and Dany nodded.

"I think I'm going to go down to the Kitchens…do you guys want something?" She asked and they all declined and she walked out of the room. They all exchanged looks.

"Can I put a theory out there?" Alice asked and they all nodded. "What if she's still in love with Sirius?" She asked and Lily shrugged.

"Of course she is. She can deny it as much as she wants but if someone told her that she had to kill one of them, Brady wouldn't be walking out alive, I can tell you that much." Lily said and they all looked at her. "What? Can any of you contradict that?" She asked and no one said anything. "That's what I thought." She said and glanced at the door that Dany had just walked out of. "I'm going to go talk to Potter about this." She said decisively and left. She walked out into the common room and knocked on the boys' door. Remus opened the door.

"Lily?"

"Who's in there?"

"Not Sirius, that's who." He said blandly and she nodded with a grin.

"Ah, you know me so well." She said and he let her in. James and Frank both looked up. They knew what she was here about.

"You think that Dany's still in love with Sirius too, don't you?" James asked and she nodded. "You think that Katherine disobeyed her father for a man like him, don't you?" She nodded.

"You know her well, Potter. You know both of them well. I'm worried that she's staying with Brady for all of the _wrong_ reasons." She said and Remus and James both nodded.

"She definitely is. She doesn't really want him; she's just sick of waiting on someone she thinks is never going to feel the same way about her. Brady's going to get sick of it eventually; she might snog Brady, but he'll never really have her." James said and Lily nodded. "Not like you can tell her that. She's so deep into fooling everyone that she's fooling herself."

"Touch her mind and you won't have to touch her body." Remus said and they both looked at him. "What? I wasn't the one that came up with it."

"Yeah, what he said." James said.

* * *

Sirius' had been sleeping strangely for the past week or so. His dreams hadn't been normal, if he managed to sleep at all. He wondered if this was how Dany felt, seeing herself older and completely changed from what she is now in her visions. There was no way he was having anything akin to what happened to her at night but he kept having similar dreams night after night. Sirius knew from personal experience that wet dreams weren't something that happened every night, they were actually pretty rare for him to have, and he also knew that there was absolutely no reason he should be seeing so much of Dany at night.

Sometimes it was completely innocent, like carrying her into a house as she laughs and tells him to put her down. Most of the time it wasn't innocent at all and he was pulling her shirt off as she straddled him and ran her hands through his hair.

So every night before Sirius went to bed, he double-checked the silencing charms, just in case he started talking or something. The last thing he wanted was for James to hear him saying his Godsister's name at night.

That night was even weirder than usual.

"Dany? Dany! Look at me, baby. Look at me. Just stay with me, love." He was touching her face and her hair with his free hand and starting to cry. "You've got to stay with me. You can't leave me. I just got you back; I can't lose you again, not after all those years apart. Come on, Dan. Just stay with me; just stay awake for me. Oh God…no, no, no. Please no, not her. Anyone but her. Take anyone but her. Take _everyone_ but her. Just not her. Please not her." He was saying and Sirius found this incredibly depressing, even objectively.

"Black! Apparate her to St. Mungo's." One of the other men said and he Apparated her into the lobby of the hospital. People immediately came over and took her from him. Everything blurred for a minute and he was sitting in a lobby when a woman walked out. Rhaegar was sitting next to him.

"Sirius Black." She said and he stood up and followed her into the ward. Michelle Carson was there.

"How is she?" He asked and Sirius thought that he looked like he was about ready to go off the deep end, depending on the answer that the Healer gave him.

"She's alive. We moved her to intensive care. Her pericardium was damaged and we're lucky she's alive at all; she should be dead, but she's hanging on and she's fighting hard to stay alive. This family's really good at hanging on by their fingernails." She said and pushed open the door to a room. Dany looked like she _could_ be dead so was so still. "She's not on a sedative now, but I'd like to put her on one once she starts to wake up on her own; she doesn't need to be spending energy on staying awake. Of course, that's your choice as her next-of-kin." She said and older Sirius nodded.

"Do what you have to. Just bring her back." He said and Michelle nodded.

"Of course. Now, there's something else we need to talk about and you're not going to like it. It's about the baby." She said and Sirius' mouth dropped open. "In all likelihood, she has miscarried." Michelle said and older Sirius looked like someone had slapped him in the face. That look was absolute and pure devastation. "It's very possible that she just couldn't afford to be supporting a second life so her body terminated the pregnancy to save itself. We've seen it happen before, especially with Aurors." She said and older Sirius sat down next to Dany.

Sirius noticed something that caught his attention. He knew why he was her next-of-kin. He was wearing a wedding band. They were married.

"What the fuck?" He gasped as he woke up. He was back in his bed at Hogwarts and was definitively _not_ married. He put his head in his hands and thought about what had just happened. Dany had been dying. And she had been pregnant. And then she had miscarried. His kid. Because they were married. Sirius promptly got up out of bed, walked to the bathroom, and threw up. Fucking dreams. James got up blearily and looked in the bathroom.

"Shit, you're not sick are you?" He asked. Sirius shook his head.

"No, no it was just a dream…go back to sleep, James." He said and James nodded before crawling back into bed. He stared at the toilet and decided that he was done before flushing and getting back into bed. He wasn't going to be sleeping tonight. The way he had been talking to her on the floor of the Potter's house. God, he had been frantic and begging her to stay with him.

Sirius managed to push the dream out of his head and by the time he walked downstairs with his friends, it was all but forgotten. Until Dany walked down with Lily and he saw her in a hospital bed flash in front of him.

"Hey boys." She said cheerily and Lily waved. Everyone said hello and they all started to walk towards the Great Hall, chatting easily with each other. Brady appeared just before they reached the hall and kissed his girlfriend with a little more force than what would probably be considered appropriate for public. Sirius was pretty sure that there was even tongue involved. Dany broke off the kiss, clearly realizing that there were other people around and said something to her boyfriend, which he seemed unaffected by. There was trouble in paradise. She said something else and he shook his head. Sirius tried really hard not to pay attention to what they were saying. It wasn't working. It sounded like Dany was less than thrilled with Brady being so aggressive and he didn't seem to care.

Classy.

They all walked into the Great Hall and Dany sat down next to Lily, looking less than thrilled. Lily said something to her and she shook her head and waved a hand. Ali sat down next to him and he smiled at her. When had she gotten that blonde? Oh well, he thought as she started to snog him.

"Erm, mate? We're going to class." James said and Sirius ignored him for a few seconds and then let go of Ali before getting up and walking out with his friends. He didn't miss the nasty look she threw Dany. Dany noticed and rolled her eyes before walking off, completely disregarding the other girl. Sirius actually thought it was funny how Ali thought she could get under Dany's skin; the girl was criticized on a national scale and Sirius doubted that a single opinion from a girl she didn't care about would do anything to her or her psyche. James fell into step with him. "Why do you keep her around?" He asked and Sirius shrugged.

"What do you mean? She's my girlfriend." He said and James shook his faintly.

"Well as great as that is, _why_ is she your girlfriend?" He asked and Sirius shrugged again.

"She's a good shag? Mate, if I wanted to have a nice touchy-feely talk, I would have let you know. Let's go to class." He said and they followed Dany and Lily to class. Dany appeared to be complaining about Brady.

"…Honestly, I don't want him shoving his tongue down my throat in public. It's just…ugh, it's trashy is all I'm saying." She was saying to her friend. "He doesn't see the problem with it, but even so, shouldn't he at least _try_ to respect my opinion on it?" She asked Lily, who nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"He really should. I'd try talking to him later, Dan. Give him some time to cool off." Lily said and patted her friend on the shoulder. They walked into Herbology and both girls started to pull their hair up in preparation for the messy class, the conversation dropping. Professor Sprout came in moments later with her usual chipper smile.

"Hello, hello everyone! Lovely as always. Now, I'm going to break you off into pairs and we're going to be working with fanged geraniums." Sirius raised an eyebrow. Why she was letting them touch things with fangs was beyond him. "Alright, now get into pairs." She said and they all paired off. "Nice try Potter and Black; I'm not letting you two together near anything pointy. Evans, partner with Potter." She said and Dany and Sirius exchanged looks and were both struggling not to laugh at their respective best friends. Dany switched places with James next to Sirius. " _Now,_ we may continue." She said and went through her talk about how not to lose a finger and then set them loose on the plants. For something that sounded exciting and dangerous, fanged geraniums were rather boring, Sirius and Dany quickly found out. It didn't really do much unless you poked it with your quill.

"I heard you fighting with Brady." He said absently as he poked the plant. Dany looked over at him before returning her attention to the carnivorous plant.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Everything okay?" He asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Sirius, I'm really not in the mood for the same shit about dumping Brady." She said and he shook his head. Did he _really_ harp on getting rid of Brady that much?

"It was an actual question, believe it or not. You can do whatever you want with your boyfriend." He said. "And I take it back. I won't ask next time." He muttered and she stopped prodding the plant and looked over at him.

"Sorry. Everything's fine for the most part. It'll pass. Thank you for asking though." She said and sighed, leaning against the workbench. "He…he just likes _everyone_ to know that we're dating." She said.

"Public snogging?"

"Yup. And I know you do your thing over breakfast, but I just don't think it's for me." She said and ran a hand over her hair and down her ponytail. Sirius glanced over at her and started laughing. She looked alarmed. "What?"

"You had dirt on your hands." He said and she groaned put her face in her hands. Her hair had streaks of the dark brown potting soil in it.

"Why do these things happen to me?" She groaned and looked at him and he continued to laugh. She now had a smear of the dirt down one of her cheeks. It was sticking because she was sweating from the heat in the greenhouse.

"You need to stop touching yourself because now it's on your face too." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I quit. I quit with this bloody class." She said and he shook his head as she tried to rub it off her face. It wasn't going too well. "Stop laughing or you're going to end up with the entire bloody pot on your head, plant included." She said and he tried to stop laughing and failed. She picked up some of the dirt and threw it. It hit him in that face and she started laughing as he tried to get it off his face. He suspected he was only making it worse because she continued to laugh even harder.

"Very cute, Dan. Thank you so much." He said and she shrugged.

"I told you to stop laughing." She said with a shrug as Sprout called the class to a close. Sirius left the greenhouses with Dany, James, and Lily and all three of them refused to get the dirt off of his face and said he'd have to wait until he found a bathroom. Dany still had the traces of the soil in her hair and smudged on her cheek and chin. She looked incredibly dorky and for once, she looked messy in public. Seeing her in sweatpants and giant shirts weren't unusual if they were up late at night or on lazy days, but seeing her look messy at all in public was extremely rare. Brady appeared out of nowhere and seemed less than thrilled with the fact that two of the four of them had potting soil on them.

"Uh, what happened?" He asked and she shrugged.

"We were working with the plants and I accidentally touched my face with dirt on my hands." She said and he seemed confused.

"What happened to him?" He asked and gestured to Sirius. Dany glanced back at him.

"Oh, yeah he laughed so I threw dirt at him." She said and James and Lily both tired to suppress smiles. Sirius was still upset that no one would clean his face off. Brady didn't seem amused by any of this.

"We need to talk. _Alone_." He said. Dany nodded before walking off with him.

"Always so charming." Sirius said idly and Lily glared at him. "What? You can't tell me that you appreciate him talking to her like that." Lily shrugged.

"Not particularly. I'm sure it's fine though." She said and walked off. James glanced at him.

"You have it so bad for her." He said and Sirius rolled his eyes and hit him over the head. "Oh, and out of curiosity, are you planning on dumping Hayden before break?" Sirius nodded.

He dumped Alison Hayden the next day and two days after they returned to school from Spring Break, he started dating Jessie Simpson. She was still around as the year pulled to a close.

* * *

 _Okay, so a lot of you are probably wondering what the hell is up with Sirius' wonky dreams like is he just going insane (no, he's still blissfully sane)?_

 _So, there's a connection between Dany's conversation with the dragon and Sirius' weird dreams BUT that connection only becomes relevant in a forthcoming part of Feel Again so right now, no one knows but me_

 _However, if you keep up with Feel Again, you'll see the connection in a bit, so if you're curious, this is your incentive to go read!_

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _Love, Essie_


	19. I'm Awake Cause It Haunts Me

_Hey! So, things are simultaneously escalating and deteriorating so let's just see how this goes! We're getting to a turning point, slowly but surely and i just want to let you all know now that you're going to be in for the long haul as this fic is going to run up until probably Lily and James' deaths and we're only about ready to embark on Fifth Year. I_

 _'ll say that I moved Lily and James' deaths up a little to when they were nineteen to accommodate some of the things going on in Feel Again, so we've got about another five or so years with this group!_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _Up at night I'm awake cause it haunts me_  
 _That I never got to say what I wanted_  
 _Oh my God, oh my God_  
 _I'm not the same as I was with you_  
 _I would jump out my skin just to get you_  
 _Oh my God, oh my God_

 _How could you have ever known_  
 _If I never let it show, now I just wanna know are you?_

 _~Capsize,_ Frenship

* * *

"I think that's enough." Dany said quietly and Brady looked annoyed. He had been putting his hands a little too far up her skirt for her liking and she had stopped him. She had told him not even a week ago the same thing and he apparently hadn't taken it to heart.

"Dan, we've been dating for like six months; this is verging on ridiculous and you know it. You're going to have to give it up eventually." She shook her head.

"I know; I'm just not ready yet, is all." She said and she knew that she really wasn't. She wasn't just using that as an excuse; she really didn't feel like she'd enjoy having Brady see her naked.

"Okay, okay. Well, let's go do something else, yeah?" He said and she nodded. "I, for one, am feeling pretty good about finishing up exams." He added on and she smiled a little. That would be an understatement.

"Big relief having OWLs almost done?" She asked and he nodded wholeheartedly as they left the empty classroom and rejoined the rest of the Hogwarts populous, holding hands.

"You have no idea. Wait until you're done with them next year. It's like having the biggest weight in the world lifted off your shoulders." He said and suddenly Lily appeared. She looked frantic. She ran right up to her.

"Dan. You need to come with me now." She gasped, out of breath.

"Lils? Wha—?"

"Come _on_. Bring him if you have to but we need you more than he does right now." She said and Dany started to follow her friend. Brady trailed behind them.

"Now that we're on our way, what the hell?" She asked. Lily continued to speed walk.

"It's…well, it's Andromeda Black." She said and this surprised Dany; she hadn't expected to hear the name of Sirius' only sane cousin.

"Sirius' cousin Andy? Is she okay? What's going on, Lily?" She asked as Lily started to actually jog. Dany realized that they were going to Dumbledore's office. Lily practically shouted the password at the statue and it allowed both girls and Brady—who had been following them—in. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sirius, and James were all standing there. There was someone in a chair that she didn't know. But she recognized her hair. Andy Black had been beaten to hell and back. Her face was beaten into a pulp and she obviously wasn't letting anyone near her. Dany was very familiar with this situation. 'Scared pureblood that desperately needs medical attention' was a flavor of person she knew well.

"Miss Danilynn." Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Miss Evans, Mr. Harris." He added on and Dany still had no idea what she was doing here.

"Professor. What exactly am I doing here?" She asked and glanced at Sirius and James. Sirius immediately pulled her aside.

"What the hell?" She hissed and Sirius exchanged a guilty look with James, who hadn't moved.

"Sorry to piss on your day, but she isn't letting anyone near her. She freaked when we even mentioned getting Madam Pomfrey. James thought that maybe she'd let you near her…" Sirius said with a shrug. "It worked on me and he thought maybe it would work on a cousin too." He added on and Dany looked at Sirius closely. He looked rather like someone had knocked him in the teeth.

"What happened to her?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I haven't got a clue; she graduated last year but she just showed up like this, asking for me and no one else. Cygnus and Dreulla aren't like my parents—they're more erratic. Not to mention that the poor girl lives with Bellatrix. My guess is that they found out about Ted. It could have been anything though. Anything can set those people off." He said and she nodded. She had a hard time coming up with people more erratic then Orion and Walburga Black, but apparently they existed.

"I can try to help her; I don't know if it'll work but I can try." She said and Sirius looked at her gratefully and hugged her quickly. Dany slowly walked over and everyone cleared off to the edges of the room. Andy eyed her reproachfully. Dany sat down on the floor, cross-legged, a few feet away from her. She said absolutely nothing. It was different than tying to get into Sirius' head; she knew him, she knew what would work, she knew what emotions she could play off of to get him to talk. She didn't know anything about this woman except that she was scared and trusted her cousin enough to come to him when she was hurt.

"What do you want?" She asked, obviously trying to be snarky, but failing and sounding more afraid than anything else. Not even the Black family sneer could get her through this.

"You're Andromeda, right?" She asked and the woman nodded. "I'm Dany, I'm a friend of your cousin's. You go by Andy?" She asked and she nodded again.

"How did you know that?" She asked, clearly trying to act uninterested.

"Because Sirius never shuts up about his cousin that was incredible enough to date a Muggleborn right under her parents' noses. His name's Ted, right?" She asked and Andy nodded again. She seemed to be more and more intrigued by a stranger knowing anything about her. Her eyes obviously softened when she had mentioned her boyfriend. "Yes, well you should know that that your cousin never stops talking about it and it's to the point where I develop a headache every time he mentions it. But, I'm sure you know all about that. Words come out and they just hurt to listen to sometimes." She said airily and Sirius protested.

"I resent that, Dan." He said and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I know the feeling. He was even worse as a little kid." Andy said and Dany snorted. She couldn't even imagine. She was getting there. Andromeda's eyes were starting to meet hers more often.

"He's a whiny brat _now_ , I don't want to even think about him as an actual whiny brat." She commented and Andy smiled a little.

"It was dreadful honestly; between him and his brother, babysitting was a nightmare. So Sirius was always dumped off at Alphard's doorstep because no one else could handle his nonstop complaining and Regulus at the same time." She said and Dany laughed.

"Yeah…clearly not much has changed." She said and Andy nodded. "If it's not to much to ask, I'd like to take a look at your face. I'm awfully good at fixing these types of things." She said and Andy hesitated. "I think I could get some testimonies from satisfied customers, if I needed to." She added on and gently nodded towards her cousin. Andy seemed to realize what she was talking about. Dany didn't miss how her eyes flicked to everyone in the room.

"I don't know…" She trailed off and Dany nodded.

"Everyone out. Sirius, stay." She said loudly and everyone exchanged looks. She had literally just kicked Dumbledore out of his own office.

"Danilynn Masters—" McGonagall started and Dany glared at her harshly, daring her to argue. McGonagall fell silent. James' mouth fell open at that.

"Come everyone, it's clear that our presences are a hindrance." Professor Dumbledore said, amused by McGonagall going silent under a student's gaze, and everyone filed out except for Sirius, who sat down next to Dany on the floor.

"Andy, she's really good at what you need. I can show you, if you don't believe me." He said and Andy, although she was probably around twenty, seemed like a scared little girl. She nodded and Sirius sighed and glanced at Dany. "Turn around, Dan. You don't get to see this fucked up mess." He said and she turned around. "It's gotten about a thousand times worse since Third Year." He added on and she rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see her. "And don't roll your eyes at me." He said and she laughed. Time passed and she stared at the wall in silence. "See? Looks pretty good, right? The best part is that she doesn't ask questions; you're not going to get better medical treatment without going to Pomfrey or St. Mungo's." He said and then another few seconds passed. "You can turn back around." He said and Dany turned around and it appeared that Sirius was pulling his shirt back down.

"Go ahead." Andy said quietly and Dany was surprised. She stood up and waved her wand. The blood vanished and it became very obvious that this had been a brutal beating of the girl's face. She tapped the three cuts on her forehead and they slowly vanished. These didn't scar; she was much better than she was when she had attempted to fix Sirius' chest when she was thirteen. She inspected her eyes and the skin around both was starting to darken. She had a set of black eyes. Her nose could be broken if they were both bruised. She touched her nose gently.

"Does that hurt?" She asked and Andy shook her head. Dany moved her hand and pressed a little harder on the bridge of her nose. Andy winced; it was broken. "Okay, this is going to sting." She said quietly and waved her wand. Andy's nose set itself with a crack and she yelped. "And for those bruises…I can think of something, but before that, can I look at your head? We don't need a concussion hiding under all of that pretty black hair." She said and Andy nodded. Dany examined the top of her head. There was a little blood but no obvious wound. She looked at the girl's pupils and they weren't dilated disproportionally so she dismissed that, figuring that the blood was probably from another part of her body. Dany tried to think of something that didn't involve salves to fix the bruises. She didn't want to get Madam Pomfrey involved. But then again, she didn't have to. She was standing next to the person with some of the stickiest fingers in Hogwarts. "Sirius? Can you do me a favor?"

"Course. What is it?" It was pretty unquestioning, which surprised her.

"Go down to the hospital wing and swipe a couple of things for me." She said and he nodded. She told him quietly what she needed and gave him a quick description before he left. "So, is there anything else, while he's gone?" She asked and she pulled her top off and stood to turn around. Her back looked terrible. It honestly reminded Dany of pictures of slaves' scars from being lashed, before slavery had been done away with. She checked for infection and found none so she closed the wounds carefully and cleaned the blood off her back and clothes. "I don't really want to have to ask but I don't know anything about your family or anything like that so…is sexual abuse relevant to this?" She asked delicately and Andy shook her head. "I'm not passing judgment and I'm not prying; I just want to know if you need potions or anything." She added on and Andy still shook her head.

"Thanks, but that's not a problem. That's about the only thing that _isn't_ a problem." She said with a small smile as Dany helped her back into her shirt and the other girl sat down again.

"Alright, I'm just checking." She said and caught sight of the other girl's hands. They were bloody and there were scars on them. "Can I see your hands?" She asked and Andy held them out as Dany kneeled down to see them better.

"I always held my fork with the wrong hand; it was unbecoming of a lady." She said quietly and Dany gently took her hands and turned them over, inspecting the palms. "Narcissa never had these problems." She added on quietly and Dany looked up her, surprised at the mention of the girl's sister.

"Well, that's just ridiculous. You're left-handed?" She asked and she nodded. "That's unique. Being different is something to be celebrated…and besides, from what I remember of Narcissa she has a stick so far up her ass that I'm surprised the end of it doesn't come out of her mouth by now." She added on as she healed the fine lines that were still oozing blood. Andy laughed a bit.

"That's definitely one way to put it…she _is_ a bit snotty, isn't she?" She said and Dany nodded with a smile.

"A little bit."

"Even Bellatrix didn't have problems with acting ladylike like I have." She said, as if this was a great confession of some great sin. She had heard another Black use the same voice. They thought that they had committed crimes against humanity.

"Well, take it from someone who knows; being ladylike sucks. And being a lady of society is even more dreadful. So, tell me about Ted. I'd like to hear about the boy that made you go rogue." She said and Andy instantly smiled.

"He's fantastic. He's so sweet and he's kind and…he _accepts_ me. He knows what my family is and how damaged I am and he still loves me. He's going to propose, I think. He hasn't yet, but I accidentally found the ring one day. I'm going to say yes; I don't care about being blasted off the family tree. I want to be with him." She said and Dany nodded with a small smile.

"He sounds like a great man."

"He is…he really is. I really love him, you know?" She said and Dany nodded.

"I do. I really do." She said. "People that can ignore last names are few and far between. I know exactly what you mean." She realized that she wasn't talking about Brady at all. Someone cleared his throat. It was Sirius.

"I come bearing gifts." He said and reached into his pocket, revealing exactly what Dany had asked for.

"Thank you so much. You're a fantastic person, my sneaky friend." Dany said as she got back up and took them from him. She unscrewed one of them. "So this is going to get rid of the bruises," she said as she put it on the girl's face, "and this is going to keep you from being too sore. Even though the outside is normal, you'll still be aching tomorrow. Just put it on where it hurts and it should help a bit. I'd think about using it on your hands and your joints mainly. Keep it out of your eyes though. It relaxes muscles and you'll get a lazy eye until it wears off if it gets in there." She said with a smile and Andy laughed a bit as she handed her the small jar.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said and Dany laughed a little and gently wiped the lotion-like substance back off the girl's face.

"I learned that the hard way, unfortunately…see? All gone." She said and pointed to a mirror in Dumbledore's office. Andy smiled. Her face looked like nothing had ever happened.

"Thank you, really." She said and Dany smiled.

"It's no problem. No one deserves the treatment that you receive at home and no one deserves to be scarred for life because they fell in love with a good man." Andy suddenly hugged her and Andy warmly at her.

"He was right; you're good at this. You should think about healing." She said and Dany smiled a little.

"I did for a while—consider healing, I mean. But I think that being a Healer is a bit too sedentary for me." She said and Andy nodded.

"It's just a thought." Dany glanced at Sirius, who was eyeing the two women.

"I'll give you two some quality family time…Sirius Black if I even think that you're going to do some stupid, pigheaded thing like try to go get revenge, I'll tie you to a chair until the idea leaves your head." She added on and walked out.

* * *

Brady was clearly unhappy, Lily thought. As soon as Dany had snapped at everyone to get out, he wasn't thrilled. That discontent turned to complete irritation at the second part. "Everyone out. Sirius, stay." She had said so strongly that no one but McGonagall had dared to question it. Even then, Dany had looked at her so harshly and so much like her father that even their Head of House hadn't finished her reprimand. This wasn't open to negotiation and it was quite obvious. They all walked out and stood just outside the office. Lily quietly talked to James.

"How's Sirius going to be after this?" She asked and James shrugged.

"No clue, to be honest. I never knew much about her outside of her existence; I think Dan might know more than I do though. My guess is he won't be overly thrilled." He said and Lily was surprised that James didn't know much about her.

"Dany definitely knew who she was. I told her that it was Andromeda Black and she looked immediately _so_ worried and said 'Sirius' cousin Andy?' She knew her boyfriend's name, even." Lily said and James nodded. Suddenly, Sirius walked out. Lily saw Brady glare at him. She knew that it was a very sore spot that his girlfriend would place another guy's needs above his. Such was the inclination of the Masters family in regards to friendship. Dany had dropped everything instantly for one of Sirius' relatives, probably wrecking a day of couple-y activities. She hadn't even seemed to care if Brady came with her.

"Sirius, wha—?" James started.

"I'm just taking a walk. Andy wanted some one-on-one with Dan." He said. "Said to come back in like fifteen minutes." He added on with a shrug before walking by and down the hall. Lily noticed which way he was going; he was walking towards the hospital wing and trying very hard to make it look like he wasn't.

"She wants him to grab something from the hospital wing." Lily said quietly and James nodded.

"She knows he has sticky fingers; she probably doesn't want to get Pomfrey involved and needs something that works better than a wand." He said. "Do you think she would have done this for a stranger?" Lily thought about it.

"I think she would have, but I don't think she would have been nearly as concerned. Andy is a stranger to her, but her cousin isn't. She's worried because Sirius cares for her and she doesn't want to see him hurting, but I think she'd try to help a stranger too…I don't think she would have snapped at McGonagall the way she did though." She said thoughtfully and Brady glanced up, apparently overhearing some of their conversation.

"That was bloody terrifying. I forget a lot of the time how scary they all are. Rhaegar is a bit too soft to be like Dan and her dad…they're nice and gentle and respectful but as soon as you seem like a threat to someone they care about, they'll rip you into tiny pieces and spread the pieces across the country as they laugh." They all stood in silence for a while and Sirius appeared from a different direction. He could have been aimlessly wandering for all it looked like. He slipped back into the room and another fifteen minutes elapsed and Dany walked out by herself.

"Miss Danilynn, is everything okay?" Dumbledore asked politely. He had always been extremely respectful of her, using the title most people used for her; never opting for simply her last name, like many professors did.

"She'll be fine. They're having some family time." She said quietly and Lily saw that her hands had blood on them again. It was just like Third Year. Dany lived her life with her hands constantly covered in the blood of the Black family.

"Dan, come here." Lily said and Dany walked over. Brady moved towards them too.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Hold out your hands."

"Um…"

"They're bloody." James said bluntly. Dany looked down and appeared to just now realize that. She held her hands out and Lily tapped them with her hand. The blood vanished.

"Thanks…that poor girl. She was so scared." She said softly and Lily could have sworn that she was next to tears.

"It's alright, Sweetie. You did everything you could for her. She'll be okay and there'll be no harm done." Lily said and Dany apparently didn't like that answer. She shook her head.

"Not on the outside, but she'll _never_ forget this. She'll carry the scars from this for the rest of her life and they'll be invisible and I think that makes it worse." She said softly. Lily hugged her and Dany hugged her back tightly. James put an arm around her gently.

"It's okay, Dan. You did the best you could and you know how Sirius is about family, he'll take good care of her." He said and she nodded. Brady looked less than impressed. "So will we. We're all going to take good care of her." James said quietly. "We'll take good care of _both_ of them." He added on so quickly and softly that Lily wasn't quite sure that she had heard right. Dany nodded and smiled half-heartedly at her boyfriend.

"Sorry that this kind of put a damper on the day." She said and he shrugged.

"It's fine…can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. It clearly _wasn't_ fine.

"Yeah…I'll see you guys later, okay?" She said and walked off with Brady. They were barely out of earshot when they started arguing. Lily knew how it would end—it was how it always ended. Dany would refuse to apologize for being who she was and would tell her boyfriend to back off of her friends. Brady would ask her to make up for it by going and snogging in a corner somewhere and she'd agree up until he tried to put his hands up her skirt and then the tension would continue to build between the couple. Things were fantastic.

* * *

"That's her, huh?" Andy said as soon as Dany walked out of the room. Sirius glanced back at the door Dany had just left through.

"That's her. I really don't think that my unrequited crush should be your main priority right now though." He commented and she shrugged.

"I'm no longer irreparably harmed so I think I can ask. I have to say, she's _way_ out of your league." She said with a smile.

"Thank you Andromeda. Like I don't already know and think that every day." He said and sat down on the ground in front of her chair. "Besides, she has a boyfriend so it's not like she's what I would call 'on the market'."

"Hey, I'm just going to say that she's a sweet girl and I think she might have magic powers of persuasion." She said and he grinned.

"You couldn't keep yourself from talking to her either, could you?" She shook her head.

"It was like a spell! I couldn't keep my feelings from coming out of my mouth. It was terribly embarrassing."

"I know the feeling, believe me. But trust me, she's heard worse than whatever you told her." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"What have you told her, Sirius Black?" His cousin asked and he shrugged.

"More than I probably should have, honestly. But once you get going, it's kind of hard to stop…I told her about the Cruciatus." He said softly.

"You told her? Her father's the bloody Minister." She said.

"He is, but I asked her not to tell anyone and she hasn't. She won't repeat what you told her, that I can promise you." He said and Andy nodded.

"I like her, I really do. She'd be good for you…you need someone with a gentle touch that knows how to heal a body, a mind, _and_ a heart. It's what we all need in this family, really." She said and Sirius nodded.

"Probably, but she's in a serious relationship so don't get your hopes up."

"I saw him today. Brady Harris, right? He was a shithead when I went here." Andy said and Sirius nodded.

"Still is. He puts on a great face though, let me tell you. Apparently he's in the running for boyfriend of the year." He said and Andy smiled.

"It's like saying Alphard's in the running."

"Hey, say what you want about Alphard but he treats women he _is_ with respectfully. Dan says that Brady's a mean drunk. She's never said much about what comes out of his mouth but she usually has some hurt feelings afterwards."

"He doesn't hit her, does he?" Andy asked, clearly alarmed.

"No, he doesn't. She'll take some verbal abuse just because she's tolerant, but she's not someone to cross the wrong way physically. If he hit her, she'd break him into two pieces." He said and Andy nodded and looked reassured.

"You really love her, don't you?" She asked and he shrugged.

"She's a good person. The entirety of the Wizarding World loves her." He said and Andy suppressed a smile quite obviously. "Whatever you and Alphard say, Andy. Whatever you two say. Now, I think it's time that we give Dumbledore his office back." He said and they both stood.

"I can't believe that she looked at McGonagall like that and got away with it." She giggled and Sirius grinned. She reminded him of Daniel so much it was scary sometimes. "She actually cut her off."

"She's like her dad. Daniel's very much the same way." He said. Andy paused.

"Did you just call the Minister of Magic by his first name?" He nodded. "You're in a first name basis with the Minister?" She clarified.

"Yes, Andromeda that's what tends to happen when you're friends with someone: you meet their parents." He added on before they left the office. Everyone was there, except for Dany and Brady. There was trouble in paradise. Again.

"Headmaster, Professor, we'd really like to keep Andromeda for tonight, if that's okay with you. I really think she would benefit from being in a room of people that she knows care about her." Lily said and Sirius smiled at her gratefully. McGonagall looked like she was highly opposed to this. Dumbledore nodded.

"That's very generous of you, Lily and I do believe that Gryffindor tower would be adequate protection for her stint in the castle." He said and Lily nodded before walking over to Andy and introducing herself.

"I'm Lily Evans. You go by Andy?" She asked and her cousin nodded. "It's lovely to meet you. Come on; let's get you into some clean clothes, huh? You look like you're about Marlene's size; she's one of our roommates. Alice is the fourth. Don't worry, Dan's the scary one and you've already met her." She said and started to walk off with the older girl. James and Sirius started to follow them and they reached Gryffindor tower uninterrupted. They walked in and Dany was sitting with Marlene on a couch in the common room. It was a beautiful day out and so they were the only people in there. They both looked up and Sirius caught sight of tear tracks on Dany's face. She'd been arguing with Brady. She quickly wiped her eyes and the two girls walked over. No one else had noticed her tears.

"I see we're keeping her for tonight?" Dany asked and Lily nodded. Marlene smiled at his cousin. Sirius was incredibly grateful for the girls' immediate acceptance and kindness.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon. It's nice to meet you. Dan said that you're Sirius' cousin?" She nodded. "Well for all of our sakes, please don't be a prat like he is." She said and Dany smiled and so did Andy. Lily made a sound like she agreed with that.

"Let's not be mean, McKinnon; I'm right here you know." Marlene shrugged.

"Whatever. Not to be rude, but you look like you could use some clean clothes. Let me see if I can find something for you." She said and took Andy upstairs. "You'll meet Alice too. She's a real sweetheart, you can't help but like her." He heard her say before they vanished completely.

"Danilynn why the hell were you just—?"

"I don't want to hear it, Lily. I really don't. It was the same shit as always." She said dismissively. Sirius really wanted to know what they were talking about but said nothing.

"Look, not to intervene but I don't know how good of an idea it is to separate her from her cousin." James said and Sirius shrugged. She _had_ come here searching for _his_ help and not the girls'. Dany and Lily both nodded.

"You're right, but I don't want to leave her in your room with just you guys; she needs a soft touch right now and none of you, except for maybe Remus, are particularly gentle and he's laid up in the Hospital Wing because of you-know-what." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Stay up in our room for tonight. It's a full moon tomorrow so Remus isn't in the room for a few nights and you lot can take our beds." James said and they both looked surprised.

"We're not taking your beds. Andy can take Remus' bed but we're all fine with the floor." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I don't feel comfortable with that. It doesn't feel right to kick you out of your own beds." She added on. The sun was already starting to go down. Marlene, Alice, and Andy came back downstairs and James extended the same offer to them. They also accepted but opted to sleep on the floor because "James Potter we're in good health and this chivalrous shit is just that: shit". Lily and Dany left to go change into pajamas and the rest of them walked up to the boys' room. Sirius directed Andy to Remus' bed and she gratefully crawled under the covers. Marlene and Alice found a couple of places on the floor that weren't covered in candy wrappers and started to get comfortable with the help of a couple of pillows. Dany and Lily walked in and James tossed his Godsister a pillow.

"I guess we're fighting over it, Lils." She said with a grin but handed it over to Lily. "I don't think I'll be sleeping much." He heard her quietly say before Lily nodded and looked highly concerned, touching her friend on the shoulder. Dany shrugged and gave a noncommittal answer and Lily nodded again before settling in. James turned the lights off and everyone went to sleep almost immediately.

Sirius woke up to bloody horrible nightmares. Having everyone in one room was actually quite reassuring; he took one look around and it was quite obvious that everyone was well and simply sleeping. Except Dany wasn't sleeping next to Lily, where he had last seen her. He looked around and recognized her profile sitting on the floor, against the wall by the window overlooking the grounds.

"Dany?" He said and she looked up, clearly surprised. She pressed a finger to her lips and looked around. He nodded and got up and sat down next to her. "What the hell are you doing up?" She shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"Same, I guess." He said. No way he was going to admit to having nightmares.

"You talk in your sleep, you know." She said quietly and he shook his head.

"No I don't. I definitely don't." He said and she nodded.

"You really do…do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Damn.

"Not really. Do you? I know you've been fighting with Brady again."

"I don't care either way, but I know you don't want to hear it so I'll save my breath." She said and sighed. She clearly wanted to talk about it, but didn't want to dump her problems onto him.

"Aw come on, let's hear it." He said and she smiled a little.

"It was just the usual crap, really. But I don't know…I just—halfway through the fight I remembered that vision, one of the first ones I had, that I was married. And it just popped into my head that I could end up marrying him. I was probably only nineteen or so and that's not that far away and I realized that it could very well be him and that's so terrifying and—and _sad_. That makes me really sad." She said quietly. This completely took Sirius off guard; he had quite forgotten that Dany had caught a glimpse of her future husband, despite never seeing his face.

"Marriage in general or marriage to him?"

"To him. I couldn't spend the rest of my life with him—I just couldn't do it. I'm happy with him for now but that won't last. I couldn't live with how possessive and jealous he is forever." She said and he considered putting an arm around her as she started to cry but this entire conversation was about her _boyfriend_ so he didn't. "What's wrong with me?" She asked mainly to herself.

"Dan, hey there's nothing wrong with you, okay?" She shrugged. "Just because you can't see yourself spending the rest of your life with some guy doesn't make you a violation of nature. There's nothing wrong with you." She nodded.

"You know, he's mean to me when he's drunk." She said quietly. He looked down at her, as she didn't even bother to wipe her eyes and let the tears drip down her cheeks. She was looking at her hands, where they were folded in her lap.

"You've said."

"He's so hurtful and cruel. He's never like that to his friends." She said and Sirius had no idea why she was telling him this and had no idea how to respond.

"What does he say?" He asked quietly and she hesitated.

"He takes digs at me because of my family. I turn into 'Princess Danilynn' and it just feels really…degrading. It upsets me and when I try to talk to him about it later, he says that he doesn't remember so I can't exactly tell him to stop."

"You let him talk to you like that?" He was surprised that she took that kind of verbal abuse. She was tolerant of bluntness but not cruelty.

"No, I usually walk off and tell him that I'll only talk to him when he's sober but that doesn't stop it from hurting. I have feelings, you know." She said and continued to cry silently. "I'm sorry, this is too much. Go back to bed. This isn't your problem; you don't need to hear about it." She said as she wiped her eyes quickly.

"I'm not going to leave you crying on my bedroom floor, I hope you realize that." He said and she shrugged.

"I'm not crying."

"Yes, you are."

"Fine. Maybe a little." She said. He reconsidered touching her and he seriously thought that this warranted something more than sitting and listening; but she had a boyfriend and he was going to respect that, even if Brady was an asshole.

"Yeah, maybe a little." He said and she smiled a little bit and leaned on him; he automatically wrapped an arm around her that she seemed grateful for as she adjusted so her weight wasn't squishing the arm around her shoulders. He hadn't even thought about doing it, despite his silent promise thirty seconds ago that he was going to respect the fact that she was dating Brady.

"I'm sorry for this, I really am." She said quietly and he nodded a little.

"It's okay. It's better than keeping all of this locked up." He said.

"He's just really scary when he's drunk." She whispered and started to let the tears fall again. She put a hand over her mouth and he rubbed a hand up and down her arm and she rested her head on his shoulder; this was pretty inappropriate seeing that they were both in relationships, but he didn't move his arm and she was only moving closer to him. This was wrong. He wasn't even in a shirt and she was only in a tank top and sleep shorts. She was leaned up against his shoulder with his arm around her, rubbing her arm in an attempt to calm her down and it felt far more intimate than it should have. This was toeing the line of cheating—they were both aware and neither of them moved.

"I'm not trying to start a fight right now, but if he scares you that much, why are you still with him?" He asked and she shrugged a little.

"Because he's nothing but nice to me when he's sober. Which is almost all of the time, except when he spends like the entire day with the guys or whatever. I like him when he's actually himself." She said quietly. Sirius had never wanted to tell her to dump him more in his life but he stopped himself. That definitely wasn't going to go over well and now wasn't the time for that argument.

"You could talk to him about not drinking so much." He said.

"Yeah, I could…I don't know how effective that would be, but I could try." She said and he noticed that the tears had halted for now. "I'm sorry about Andy…that poor girl." She said and looked over at where his cousin was peacefully sleeping. "Will she be okay?" She asked quietly and he shrugged.

"I think so…she's tougher than she looks." He said and she nodded. "She likes you, you know." He said and she looked over at him, surprised.

"What? Really?"

"Really. Believe it or not, you're actually kind of likable." He said and she smiled a little.

"She didn't deserve that." She said softly and he sighed. She was kind and sweet and gentle and she didn't understand how cruel the world was sometimes.

"No she didn't, but you get used to it. Being used and abused doesn't seem so strange when you've grown up with it." He said and she looked horrified.

"I know you must be really tired of the pity, but I'm sorry. You shouldn't be used to it and neither should she." She said and he shrugged.

"I'm not really tired of the pity because I don't get any. No one knows that would care outside of you, Andy, Alphard, and James. Needless to say that Alphard and James aren't exactly knocking down the door to talk about feelings and I don't see Andy that often." He said and she nodded.

"Then I really and truly am sorry. Out of everyone I know, you're one of the people that deserves that the least." She said and he smiled at her.

"Thanks. That's one of the nicest things anyone's said to me in a while." He said and she smiled.

"It's just the truth." She said and he realized that it was three in the morning.

"We should probably get some sleep. You need sleep, Dan; you're not invincible, you know." He said and she nodded.

"I know. Go on back to bed, Sirius. I'll be fine." She said and moved away so he could take his arm back. He stood up and she smiled. "Thanks for everything."

"Goodnight, Dany. At least _try_ to get some sleep." He said and she smiled before he climbed back into bed.

* * *

James hadn't slept very well that night. It had been spotty at best and one time when he woke up, he heard soft voices. It was Dany. It was Dany _and_ Sirius. When he woke up the next morning, he pretended that he hadn't heard a thing. Looking at Dany and Sirius both, he wouldn't have guessed that they had been talking last night. He was just rolling out of bed and she was awake and looking out the window. God, they loved each other. Andy woke up suddenly and Dany looked over, but made no effort to approach her; Sirius, however, did. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Andy nodded and responded to her cousin. They looked so alike. Same hair and height and noses. They were clearly relatives.

"Dan." Dany looked up when Sirius said her name. "It is possible for you to track down Ted?" He asked and she stood up and nodded.

"Let me go pull a couple of strings and see what I can do. His last name's Tonks, yeah?" Sirius nodded. "I'll be back soon." She said with a smile before she left. The rest of the girls woke up almost simultaneously and looked around.

"Good morning everyone." Lily said with a yawn. "Where's Dan?" She asked.

"She had to make a quick call to her dad." James said and Lily nodded. Andy raised an eyebrow.

"I hope everything's okay…you can never tell these days though." Marlene said as she helped Alice up off the ground where they had slept. James nodded.

"Everything's fine. The Ministry hasn't devolved into a state of emergency and we're not under martial law. She wouldn't be making a quick call if the world were coming to an end; she'd be put into hiding before someone could assassinate her." James said and everyone looked at him. "What? It's true. Rhea, Rhaegar, and Dan would be taken into hiding as fast as humanly possible if the Ministry fell."

"Well that's not unsettling at all."

"What about Daniel? No one's going to put him in hiding?" Lily asked.

"The only way the Ministry would fall was if he was dead. There's no point in hiding a dead person."

"Oi, we're not talking about my father dying, thank you very much James Potter." Dany said from behind him. "Now, Andy. I Flooed someone in the Ministry and I have someone you'll want to see." She said and stepped aside and a man James assumed as Ted Tonks walked in. Andy got up and ran to him. Ted clung onto her.

"Thank God. Shh, shh it's okay. It's okay Sweetheart. We're going to be okay. You're okay. I'll take care of you." He said quietly and Andy nodded. Dany smiled a little and watched the couple have their reunion. The woman let go of her boyfriend.

"How did you find him?" She asked Dany and Ted laughed.

"You could only imagine my surprise when the Minister's secretary showed up looking for me." Everyone looked at Dany.

"What? Laura knows everything and everyone." She said. "It was the best I could think of without having to go through tax records and showing up at his house." Andy hugged her abruptly. Dany hugged her back, despite looking surprised.

"Thank you so much." She whispered. Dany shook her head.

"It was no problem. You need him; we all need someone to take care of us sometimes." She said and Andy nodded and returned to her boyfriend's side.

"Still, thank you. You're a really good person. You're certainly not what people say you are. At least, what my family says you are." She said and Dany nodded, her eyes moving to Sirius for a second.

"Well, it's always reassuring to know that I'm not a shining example of respectable to sadistic blood supremacists." She said and Andy, to everyone's surprise, laughed.

"You're really not. Alphard would like her." She said and Sirius nodded.

"I know he would. I have designs so that they never meet and I don't ever have to deal with both of them at the same time." He replied.

"So would Reg. He'd like her too." She said quietly and Dany raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sirius. It took James a moment to realize that she was talking about Sirius' brother. Dany didn't strike James as the type to get on with Regulus Black, but maybe the brothers were more alike than people thought.

"I don't know about that. Regulus doesn't like much that isn't related to Voldemort these days." He said and Andy's eyes darkened.

"Of course. I forgot for a minute. Reg would have liked her when he was little." She corrected and Sirius nodded.

"That I believe." Sirius said quietly and Dany looked at her feet.

Dany and Brady made up a few days after, right as exams concluded and were back to being a relatively happy couple by the time they were back on the Hogwarts Express headed towards London. Dany entertained herself by demolishing James in three consecutive games of chess, leaving Brady with very little to do. James thought it was quite hilarious to watch him try to find something when his girlfriend wasn't available for a snog or an argument.

Like always, everyone fell silent as the train entered London and the smiles and laughter stopped. It suddenly went from light and airy in the compartment, to seeming like a funeral. Brady had no idea what was going on, but made no efforts to talk, mainly because he probably didn't care enough to try and start conversation. The train came to a halt and James left the train with Lily, Sirius, and Dany stuck pretty close to them with Brady holding her hand. They all (minus Brady, who was waiting on his girlfriend) were waiting on the same thing: Sirius' parents. James saw Dany's eyes widen and James waited for the overly peppy and sickeningly sweet smile to appear on her face—being overly sweet to the Blacks was one of her favorite pastimes. Except she didn't. She looked incredibly neutral to the entire thing. James also noticed that Dany was making a point of holding Brady's hand in a pretty obvious way; he had no idea what that was about.

"Sirius, come. Your Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus are expecting us, as are Bellatrix and Narcissa." Walburga said and Dany's neutral expression slipped into a smirk so quickly that James barely processed it. Sirius was wearing the exact same one; unlike Dany, however, he didn't bother to try and hide it. He realized that Andy's name was absent from that list—that's what they had both caught.

"Of course, but where is Andromeda?" He asked innocently and Orion's mouth tightened.

"Andromeda is no longer family and you will not speak of her in front of her parents and sisters. Never speak of her at all." He said and Sirius was still smirking.

"Well we wouldn't want to keep our relatives waiting, would we?" Sirius asked his mother, but paused before walking off with them. "See you lot in September." He said and Lily hugged him quickly and James clapped him on the back. Dany smiled a little at him, but she didn't cling onto him like she usually did. Something was definitely going on. Dany and Sirius were only growing closer and now they were acting like they barely knew each other. Sirius walked off without looking back. Dany let go of Brady's hand as soon as they vanished and she looked how she usually did when Sirius left with this parents; she had been playing everything down, they both had, and James had no idea why. She was still worried as hell though.


	20. Faster Than You Could Say Sabotage

_Hi!_

 _So, this chapter is a huge turning point and there is so much going on in it that it kind of made my head a spin a little! It might seem a bit rushed, but I really just wanted to get the ending out of the way because I felt like that particular part of the plot was just getting really tired._

 _Now, this chapter crams summer and the first two months of Fifth Year into about 7,000 words, so watching what happens!_

 _Also, i had someone ask how long it would be until Dany and Sirius hookup (which they obviously do, I mean there's a sequel) and I'm not going to give you a specific answer but sometime within Fifth Year. If you're really that curious, there's an illusion to how they get together in one of the chapters, so you can try and figure it out that way if you want to._

 _Anyways, Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and..._  
 _I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him_  
 _She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause_  
 _She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"_

 _I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it_  
 _I underestimated just who I was dealing with_  
 _She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum_  
 _She underestimated just who she was stealing from_

 _~Better Than Revenge,_ Taylor Swift

* * *

The morning they were set to leave Hogwarts, Sirius had pulled Dany aside during breakfast, just before they got on the train. They had walked out into the Entrance Hall and Dany had been quite curious as to what was going on.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I have a couple of…weird things to ask of you. And I can't give you a real explanation, okay?" She hesitated. "Just go with me on this, please." He looked like he was getting ready to start begging.

"Yeah, yeah what do you need?"

"When you inevitably see my parents on the platform, make it _really obvious_ that you're holing hands with Brady." He said and she raised an eyebrow. She reminded herself that she wasn't going to pry.

"Um, okay…what's the other thing?" She asked warily. She had no idea what her holding hands with her boyfriend had to do with Walburga and Orion Black.

"Pretend like we're friends only in the sense that we have mutual friends when we're on the platform." He said bluntly and she couldn't stop herself.

"Do you mind if I ask why?" She said.

"I know this sounds so weird, but I swear there's a reason, okay? Can you please just trust me with this one?" He asked and he looked desperate. There was more to this than met the eye. She nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I can do that. How does one act with a 'friend in the sense that we have mutual friends'?" She asked and he seemed relieved.

"Um, I don't know, but it doesn't involve an emotional goodbye. This sounds so terrible, doesn't it?" That stung a little.

"At this point, it's mildly offensive." She admitted. He shook his head.

"No, don't be offended. It's just…my parents, they're—I just like to keep my friends out of their sight and minds as much as possible." He said and she nodded.

"I still want to have an emotional goodbye. None of us ever know if you're going to come back alive." She said and then slapped her hand over her mouth. That hadn't been supposed to come out. "Shit, sorry." She added and he shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like the thought's never crossed my mind." He said and she nodded. "Well people are going to be getting on the train in less than an hour, so is now close enough to departure for you?" He asked after checking the time and she nodded. He quickly closed the couple of feet between them and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. She hugged him back, not particularly caring to ever let go. Neither of them let go, choosing to stand that way. It was nice to hug someone that was so much taller than her. Brady was probably only 5 foot 8 on a good day, leaving him about six inches taller than her, which, considering she was so short, wasn't much. Sirius was 6 foot 4 to the best of her knowledge; he was at least fourteen inches taller than she was and she found that oddly comforting.

"Hey Sirius? Can you do something for me?" She asked quietly.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Don't die." She whispered into his chest, which was the body part she was eyelevel with. "Just come back whole, okay?" She said and he sighed.

"I think I can manage that for you. But only because you asked." He said into her hair, adding the last part with a chuckle. They needed to let go before Dany started crying, someone saw them and got the wrong idea, or a line was crossed.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Dan." He said and she let go of him.

"Thank you." She had murmured.

Dany had been home almost a month and was still trying to figure out why the hell Sirius had been so set on her holding hands with Brady; he hated Brady and he had all but begged her to hold the other boy's hand.

"Hey, Dad!" Dany yelled and a few moments later, her father appeared in the doorway to her room. "Can I talk to you about something?" She asked quietly and he closed the door behind him and sat in her desk chair, facing where she was sitting at the foot of her bed.

"What's on your mind, Sweetheart?" He asked and she bit her lip. She had never actually told her dad that she had a thing for Sirius—no, she _had_ liked him before she started dating Brady. It was over and it was a friend thing now, she corrected herself.

"It's about Sirius."

"Do you think he's in danger? I've told you before that I need evidence before I can send Aurors to take him away from his parents." He said and Dany shrugged.

"No more danger than usual, to the best of my knowledge…it's just that right before we left Hogwarts, like an hour before we got on the train, he pulled me aside and asked me to do a couple of things for him and it made absolutely no sense." She said and her father looked simultaneously interested and like he wasn't sure he wanted to know what exactly it was he had asked Dany to do.

"What did he want?"

"He asked me to make it really obvious that I was holding hands with Brady when I inevitably saw his parents on the platform." Her father raised an eyebrow. "He also asked if I'd pretend like we were only friends because we have mutual friends, if that makes sense. I've been trying to make heads or tails of it ever since, but I've got nothing." She admitted and her father nodded.

"That _is_ rather out of the ordinary, especially because you two are quite close—more so than friends of opposite genders usually are. I think it would be safe to assume that it involves his parents. I know what you're thinking about the last part, Dan—I promise you that he doesn't actually hate you, okay? Sweetheart, it probably has to do with his home life. Maybe he wants to keep you away from his parents or maybe he thinks that distancing himself from you will make his life easier at home. As for holding hands with Brady, I'm not sure; keep in mind that we don't know what truly goes on in his home. He must have his reasons." Her father said.

"That's not his home." Dany said automatically. "His home is with the Potters. That place is a prison." She said quietly and her father sighed.

"I know you worry after him, and you have every right to, but trust that he has his reasons. All good relationships are built on trust." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"No one said anything about a relationship." She said and her father shrugged, but still smiled a little.

"I know how you feel about him, Dan; I've known for years." Her father said and Dany felt her mouth drop open.

" _What_? Did Rhaegar tell you? If he did, I'm actually going to kill him." She idly rambled. "It's too bad that he just graduated because he isn't going to be doing much with that diploma in the afterlife. Shame he wasted his entire life in school."

"No one told me so please spare your brother's life. I know you better than almost anyone and it's all over you, if you know where to look." He said and Dany felt her face turn red.

"I have a boyfriend." She said softly and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. Her father nodded.

"I know you do."

"When did you figure it out?"

"The night I met him. I knew the moment I saw you two together." He said and Dany felt her face turn red again.

"You knew and you never had a problem with it?" She asked disbelievingly.

"He seems like a nice boy who cares for you greatly. His name doesn't define him anymore than yours defines you." He said and she nodded.

"I know it doesn't. Rae doesn't approve—at least, he didn't when I wasn't dating Brady. But I have a boyfriend now and that crush is long gone." She said softly. _Liar._ Shut up, she hissed at the voice in her head that reminded her of Lily.

"Of course it is…Dan, I just want you to make sure that you're staying with Brady for the right reasons." He said gently and she looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Have I ever told you how I started dating your mother?" He asked randomly and she shook her head. "Yes, well I asked her out our Sixth Year but I had loved her for a very long time before that. We were friends, good friends even, but I never asked her out because I knew that as soon as I got serious with a girl, my father—your grandfather—would push me to marry her. He wanted to retire, you see, and I needed a wife because I didn't have a sister. So, I never asked her out because I didn't want to get her involved with my controlling father; he got better after he retired, but I never had the freedoms that your mother and I have given you and your brother. So instead of dating her, I dated everyone _but_ her. It helped a bit, but I never got over her…then we were talking one day and I just kind of thought about asking her out and then I just kind of…blurted it out." Dany laughed a little.

"What's the point of this? It's very enlightening, but I don't see the direction."

"My point is that I was with all of those girls for all of the wrong reasons. Just make sure that you're not taking up that particular bit of the family mantle. Don't deny yourself the right to love. Life's too short for that." He said and she nodded.

"I don't love Brady."

"I know you don't."

"I like him well enough, but I don't love him. He's just—he's so _boring_. Sometimes it seems like he'll never understand me at all."

"It's a terrible feeling—it makes you feel alone." He said and she nodded.

"We argue all of the time."

"I'd guessed as much."

"He wants me to sleep with him. I don't want to." She said quietly. That probably wasn't the best thing to tell her _father,_ but she couldn't really stop it from coming out of her mouth.

"He's a year older, Dan—you're ready for different things. Don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable and always be safe." He said and Dany was surprised that he hadn't gone into raging-mad-dad mode.

"I know. He…he drinks a lot." This _did_ make her father look concerned.

"How much is 'a lot'? I know you kids drink, I'm not an idiot and I was your age once, but you shouldn't be getting wasted every night." He said warily.

"He doesn't drink often, but when he does he drinks a lot. He binges." She said and her father looked less than impressed.

"That's not healthy, Dan. Please tell me that you don't binge drink." He said and she shook her head.

"No, I don't; neither do my friends except sometimes Marlene has one too many. I refuse to see him when he's drunk. I hang out with the girls or James or Sirius when he decides to get wasted." She said and her father relaxed.

"I'm glad to hear that. I don't know what to tell you about Sirius, but I'd just take a little bit to think about your relationship with Brady. Ask yourself why you want to be with him; the answers might surprise you." He said and she nodded.

"I will. Thanks, Daddy." She said quietly and he smiled before standing and kissing the top of her head.

"No problem, Sweetheart. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go yell at your brother for not taking out the trash today." He said and she laughed before her father left the room.

* * *

"I honestly don't see why Sirius has to come with us, Mother." Regulus said blandly and Sirius rolled his eyes, despite not knowing the answer either.

"Because it would look strange not to bring him, Regulus. He _is_ still our heir." Orion said, as Sirius' mother wasn't paying attention to her children and was too busy yelling at Kreacher.

"Yes, Father." Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes again at his pliant brother. Walburga came back and she and her husband Apparated their children to Diagon Alley. They were standing in the Leaky Cauldron. People looked over and Sirius noticed that Tom the Bartender, who was good friends with Dany and someone that Sirius got on with fine, didn't seem very impressed. People started to whisper and stare. Fantastic. Of course, his parents had forced him onto some atrocious rich pretentious asshole robes that itched like all get out and were too thick for the mid-August heat. His parents ate up all of the attention and Sirius hated these bloody robes. Suddenly, no one was paying any attention to them, which Sirius was relieved about, but it only meant one thing: someone more interesting had just walked in. Then he noticed all of the people in the pub standing up.

"Sweetheart, I really think that we have a right—a duty even—to eat candy while your mother's not looking." Someone said and Sirius winced when he recognized the voice. Fuck. "I love her to pieces, but she just…she cares almost _too_ much about our health." There was a pealing laugh that Sirius would recognize anywhere. Sirius looked around and saw that Dany and her father had just walked in from the streets of Muggle London, completely on their own. There was no security, no Aurors, and no Rhea or Rhaegar. They were absolutely alone and were dressed in casual Muggle clothes. Sirius honestly thought that they had never looked more alike. He also _really_ envied the jeans and t-shirt the Minister was wearing right now.

"I do believe that you're right." Dany absently commented as she looked around and noticed the people standing. "Ah, there goes our day of anonymity." She said. They had apparently been going through Muggle London somehow unseen.

"It appears so." He said quietly. Neither the father nor daughter had recognized the Blacks standing near the entrance into Diagon Alley. Sirius was surprised that their parents hadn't pushed he and Regulus out of the pub yet. "Oh, Tom; I've been meaning to ask how you think the Cannons are going to hold up this year in the Cup." Daniel said from across the room.

"No way in hell the Cannons make to within spitting distance of the Cup, Minister. " Tom laughed and people laughed or smiled into their drinks. The sudden respectful and serious atmosphere broke and people started laughing and the room was immediately put at ease. It seemed cheerful again, if not more so than before.

"I tell him that every year, but he never seems to believe me." Dany mused as she leaned up against the bar. "You know Dad, last summer me and Tom decided that your favorite underdogs are officially beyond repair." She laughed and a few people nodded in agreement. She suppressed a smile and finally Dany noticed them. Her eyes widened and Sirius hoped that she would have understood why he wanted her away from him in front of his parents. She apparently did because she smiled slightly, courteously even, but didn't come over. She started talking to Tom lightly and Daniel was slowly making the rounds, talking to random people and asking about their kids. The man knew literally everyone. At long last, the Minister noticed them and walked over. Dany looked over from where she was talking to Tom.

"Walburga. Orion." Daniel said and his eyes flicked towards Sirius for a minute. He knew more than he let on. Dany had probably told him about his weird requests at the platform.

"Minister." They both said like someone had stuck lemons down their throats. Sirius glanced over at Dany, who was watching from over by the bar. She obviously looked at his parents, who were being forced to listen to the Minister airily talk to them, then grinned at him. He smiled back quickly and she stuck her tongue out at him. 'Nice robes.' She mouthed at him. He rolled his eyes and she suppressed laughter. 'Shut up' he mouthed back and she made a face before going back to being straight-faced as soon as her father's conversation ended with his parents. He shook Orion's hand and nodded politely at Sirius' mother before rejoining his daughter at the bar. Walburga and Orion shoved their children out of the pub.

"Absolutely disgusting. People don't even realize that it's all a publicity stunt to them. The _sweet_ and _caring_ Danilynn Masters. It's enough to make any self-respecting person vomit." His mother sniffed. He had never really thought about how much he enjoyed pissing his mother off until he made a conscious effort not to. He kind of hated that he had told Dany that he'd come back whole. Not that it was Dany's fault, but he really regretted telling her that he'd come back _completely_ unharmed.

"Honestly, it wears on one's patience." Regulus commented. "I think she might be wearing off on Sirius, with all of the time they spend together." Oh, he was going to fucking kill Regulus next time he got a chance.

"You agree with those white-haired, Blood Traitor monstrosities?" His mother snapped. "They do not deserve the power they have and they are _not_ the ones who should be in control of the Wizarding World. The Dark Lord would be doing us all a favor by finishing them off, honestly." Regulus looked rather horrified.

"Mother—"

"Like the bloody Minister isn't horrible enough, the wife is just as bad, not mention the kids. Rhaegar Masters is becoming a bigger pain in the ass by the day and Daddy's Little Girl is just about as dumb and unfit to lead as they come."

"Mother!" Regulus yelled.

"Don't raise your voice at me." She snapped. For once, Regulus ignored her.

"The Minister is right behind you." He said and sure enough, Dany and her father were both standing right behind her. This was _too_ perfect.

"Oh, please continue, Walburga. It seemed like you were just getting warmed up." Daniel said dryly. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?" He said and Dany looked unhappy at best. "No? I thought not." He said and Dany glanced at Sirius sympathetically before looking his mother up and down so critically that it surprised him. This was hardly the same person that had helped a little girl up and mended her knees. "I think we're done here, Sweetheart." Daniel said quietly to Dany and she nodded. They started to walk away and Dany turned around.

"Oh, Lady Black; I'd think about getting that hemmed. It's not becoming to have your robes dragging in the dirt." She said sweetly and Sirius raised an eyebrow and Daniel looked amused. She turned back around and resumed talking to her father as they walked away. His mother looked pissed and he wondered what part of the 'innocent' comment would have made her so angry. Then he got it. Dany had subtly taken a jab at the touchiest subject in their family: status. She had commented on what she was wearing and it had a slight undertone of 'you'll never be as good as us so stop pretending you are'. Of course, Dany didn't believe in the blood purity bullshit, but she knew his mother did.

Then again, Dany and her father had both been in Muggle clothes and they still looked powerful and Daniel looked downright commanding wherever he went. Sometimes he wondered if the Masters blood _did_ have a little something extra in it.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was a huge letdown.

* * *

"Where were you?" Brady said Dany two months into term as she sat down next to him in Muggle Studies, almost late due to the classroom being clear on the opposite side of the castle from the Room of Requirement, where she and Sirius had gotten caught up talking. Brady was in her Muggle Studies class even though he was a year older due to a weird scheduling conflict that caused him to have to sit though the Fifth Year lecture and do Sixth Year work. She considered lying but figured that it would only crash and burn if she got caught.

"I was with my friends. Why?" She replied, hoping that he would take that answer and not press for more details.

"Really? Because I saw your friends and you weren't with them. I asked Marlene if she'd seen you and she said last she saw you, you were by the astronomy tower with Black." Brady said knowingly, like he'd caught her in some great crime.

"Regulus? You've got to be joking me. I don't know Regulus hardly at all, Brady." She said and then she realized that he meant Sirius.

"You know I'm not taking about Black Jr., who by the way you should probably avoid anyways. What were you doing with Sirius?" Brady snapped and Dany rolled her eyes. Like hell she was going to say, 'Yeah you know we were just talking about being kids and literally reliving childhood memories together'.

"Talking, you know because we're friends; it's what friends do. Seriously, Brady I know what you're thinking and nothing's going on. Besides, we're both in relationships." She responded as she pulled her textbook out of her bag.

"Oh please, as if you could call those...things he does with girls 'relationships'. He's essentially single. You're in a relationship and he should be mindful of that is all I'm saying." Brady said and Dany shrugged.

"He is. He's never come onto me, never tried to flirt; it's platonic so leave it be." She said and Brady seemed to be looking for a way to argue with this, which was a mistake. For as long as they'd been dating, he still didn't know when to let things go with her; that tone meant 'back off'—that she was running out of patience.

"Look, all I'm saying Dan is that—"

"I said to leave it alone, Brady. I'm friends with him and I'm sorry that you don't like it but we were friends long before I started dating you." She snapped, rather loudly. Lily and Marlene looked over from two desks over and Alice turned around from her seat in front of the couple. No one else seemed to notice, Dany was thankful to see. Brady looked pissed but said nothing more on the topic.

"Alright sorry. How about we meet up later and we can...make up?" He whispered and she shook her head. She knew what he wanted; it was what he _always_ wanted these days.

"Not right now, Brady. I'm just not ready." She whispered back, for what felt like the thousandth time since the start of the year, and he said nothing in return.

The rest of class passed uneventfully, mainly because it was a nonstop lecture, Dany suspected. They were dismissed about twenty minutes early because apparently Professor Burbage ran out of things to talk about.

"I'm going to head back to my room real quick, before my next class." Brady said and Dany nodded.

"Alright, see you at dinner." She said and he nodded before leaving the room. Lily leaned on Dany's desk.

"Everything okay? I heard the end of that…discussion you two were having at the start of class." She said and Dany stood up as she ran her hand through her hair; it was getting too long and the white ends were almost see-through they were so thin. She needed a haircut.

"Yeah, everything's fine…just a misunderstanding." She said and Marlene and Alice walked over as the girls exited the classroom.

"No way are you getting away with that crap answer, Danilynn. Spill." Marlene said and Dany sighed.

"I mean it's the same thing as always; he doesn't like that I'm friends with guys that aren't him or James, who's practically family so that doesn't even count."

"Sirius. He's pissed you're friends with Sirius." Alice said blandly.

"And then he wanted me to go sleep with him as a way to 'make up'. Like sorry, but I'm not having my first time be a 'please forgive me' thing."

"That's a dick move." Lily observed and the other two girls nodded in agreement. "Good for you for telling him no like that. You're quite the role model for us single girls." She laughed and Dany shrugged.

"I have to go drop a book off at the library real quick so I'll catch you guys back in the common room, alright?" She said, thankful they had a free period next; the girls were going to really want to hash this out.

"Sure, I have rounds with Remus anyways so I'm off in the other direction." Lily said and started to walk away.

"We'll be in the common room when you girls are done with your chores." Marlene laughed and the four girls went in different directions.

Dany was walking down the corridor to the library after returning her book when she could have sworn she heard Brady's voice from inside one of the empty classrooms nearby. She debated about looking in the room, but it probably wasn't him, it was probably just another kid who sounded like him doing something he wasn't supposed to. He had said he was going to Ravenclaw tower. She heard the voice again and it was definitively Brady, so she opened the classroom door and felt her mouth drop open. He looked up from kissing the girl that was currently straddling his lap and swore.

"Fuck. Dany, this isn't what it looks like, honestly." He said and she couldn't really see an alternative to the fact her shirtless boyfriend had a girl's legs wrapped around him in an empty classroom.

"Really? Because it really looks like you're cheating on me with some whore." She snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Danilynn I'm a _man_ and I need to get some of my…frustration out somehow and when you weren't willing to help me, I had to find another way is all."

"You need to realize that you just were too uptight for him, Masters." The girl he was with said. Dany realized it was Kenzie Levitt, Sirius' ex from Fourth Year that had been dubbed Crazy Kenzie.

" _Kenzie?_ " She asked blankly and the other girl stood up, nodding.

"Miss me?" She asked sweetly.

"Not particularly, now that you mention it. How are you involved with this? Other than the obvious, I mean." Dany asked, still trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

"Well, first of all you don't keep secrets as well as you think you do…I suppose that's rather hard to do with people watching you 24/7. I know why my boyfriend cancelled last minute summer before your Fourth Year; I know that he split to be with you. He was mine at the time and you just couldn't stay away, could you? You ruined my relationship, so when Brady looked all…pent up at the start of the year, I decided that I'd like to ruin yours." She said and Dany nodded faintly.

"Well…this has been enlightening. You can fuck off," She said to Kenzie, "And you, if I ever see you again—actually, forget it…I'm not going to see you again. Ever." She said to Brady and left.

"Dany! Danilynn!" She heard Brady say as he apparently followed her down the hall. He finally caught up to her near the charms classroom, frantically buttoning his shirt up. "Seriously, this relationship isn't over. You can't break up with me." He said and she crossed her arms.

"Really? Am I not _allowed_ to?" She asked scathingly.

"No, you're not. We're not over. And I know that you and Black have had something going on for a while so don't act like a victim." He said. Dany fought the urge to start laughing at that, despite the very _un_ funny nature of the conversation.

"You've got to be joking." She snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to fuck someone to be unfaithful. Kenzie would know."

"Well, _please_ enlighten me to Kenzie's great words of wisdom." She said and was becoming increasingly pissed. The worst part was that she knew exactly what he was talking about as soon as he said it.

"There's more than one way to carry on an affair. You can guess the rest; you're a smart girl." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not cheating on you, Brady." She said and no longer really cared if he believed her, but was just rising to the argument. "She can keep you; I'm done." She said and he grabbed her arm as she tried to back away.

"We're not done. I just said that I'm the only one that can end this relationship, you understand?"

"I understand how repulsive of a human being you are, if that's what you're asking, now let go of me." She snapped.

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me. Now let me go and go fuck yourself or she can do it for you—whichever makes you feel more like a _man_." She said and she could recognize the venom in her own voice. The next thing she processed was pain across her face.

* * *

Lily and Remus were doing Prefects rounds right after class and Sirius and James had decided to accompany them—it was long before curfew so Lily had no problem with it, as long as they didn't cause too much of a problem.

A little while into their rounds, the group heard raised voices bouncing down a corridor. She recognized Brady's voice almost immediately and seconds later she heard Dany. They were fighting and from the sound of it, it wasn't pretty. The four exchanged a look and turned the corner to see Dany and Brady arguing heatedly when suddenly Brady backhanded her. Dany looked at him like she wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, but James and Sirius had no questions about it.

James got to him first and Sirius wasn't far behind him. Remus ran forward to grab his friend before she could be caught in the crossfire. Dany looked at him and she was clearly relieved when he led her back towards Lily. Lily wrapped an arm around her and Remus quietly stood next to the girls.

Dany looked too in shock to stop Sirius or James and Lily had no motivation to. They were going to rip him to pieces. Sure enough, Brady started to beg for them to stop beating the shit out of him. They didn't listen to him and continued to hit him. Lily was certain that not one wand had been drawn. They let it go on, neither Lily nor Remus wanting James or Sirius to take mercy and Dany looked like she hadn't really processed the last five minutes at all. Finally, James pulled Sirius by the shoulder and he nodded.

"Don't look." Remus said to them. Lily averted her eyes, but Dany didn't bother. They hadn't been able to see Brady because of the bulk of Sirius and James but once they moved, Lily had a feeling that it was going to be gruesome. Dany continued to stare. Seconds later, Remus guided them out of the hallway and Lily finally looked ahead, no longer trying to avoid seeing what was right in front of her. Remus was off to the side, looking rather disturbed but like he wasn't surprised in the least. James and Sirius were both still standing and didn't look any worse for wear, except it appeared that Sirius had some bloody knuckles and one of James' fingers was swelling like it might be broken.

"Now Dany, sweetheart I'm only going to ask once so you're just going to tell me. What happened?" James said calmly, like he hadn't just almost killed someone.

"I…I was going to the library and I thought I heard Brady's voice inside one of the empty rooms so I opened the door and he was…with someone, a girl." She said softly. Lily put a hand over her mouth. "And long story short, I told him it was over and well, you saw the rest." She said.

"Who was the girl? I need to know whose hair I'm pulling out." Lily said and she saw Dany's eyes flick towards Sirius so quick that she doubted that anyone but her had seen it.

"Kenzie. It was Kenzie." She said and Lily saw Sirius' look of shock.

"Kenzie as in Crazy Kenzie? As in Sirius' ex?" James asked, trying to clarify.

"Yes, James. Sirius' ex-girlfriend was in an empty classroom with her legs around my boyfriend. Is that what you want to hear?" She snapped.

"What I don't understand is why." Remus added and Dany shrugged.

"Why Kenzie you mean?" She asked and Remus nodded. "She said I ruined her relationship so she wanted to ruin mine. That was all she would say." She said and everyone looked at Sirius. Lily thought about putting her arm back around her but held off. She and Sirius would need to talk this out on their own. She caught James' eye and moved her head towards the other end of the hallway.

"Um, guys we're just going to wait over there while you discuss this." James said and the two of them and Remus walked towards the end of the hall.

* * *

"So should I just start calling myself home wrecker now? I _do_ ruin people's relationships, you know." Dany asked with a half-hearted smile. Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't bother. I heard what he was saying, you know, about him being the only one that could end it." He said. She looked ashamed, looking down.

"Yeah…you can go ahead and tell me that you told me so; because you _did_ tell me so and I didn't listen. My first boyfriend was a possessive, fanatical, cheater. It's a great way to kick off my love life." She said hollowly and Sirius felt bad for her.

"For what it's worth, I didn't want to be right."

"Well that's a first. I…I just don't understand why." She said softly, finally looking up from the ground. Her eyes were huge and unsure and he was pretty sure she was trying to hold back tears. "Did I cause this?" She said quietly and Sirius felt his eyes widen. He wanted to go back and kick Brady an extra time in the head for somehow spinning this to make her feel like it was her fault.

"Dan…you didn't cause this. You weren't responsible for his actions. He can try to toss blame onto you all he wants but the truth is that he did this, all of this. You didn't make him cheat and you didn't make him hit you. Why would you think that this was your fault?" He asked her softly. She looked back down at the ground.

"…Because I wouldn't sleep with him." She said quietly. Sirius was surprised by the answer. They had dated for a pretty long time and he had just assumed that they had been at it for a while now. "That's why he cheated, because I wouldn't put out for him." She said quietly. "I just wasn't ready and he knew it, I'd only told him a thousand times." He really looked at the side of her face for the first time; there was a violently red handprint on the left side of her face and it became quickly apparent that it was going to be bad; her face was swollen in the shape of Brady's hand.

"That looks awful…what the hell did he do to you?" He said, more to himself.

Dany looked up at him quietly. Before he really thought about it, he touched the handprint; she winced a little but said nothing. He watched her finally start to cry. One of her tears ran down her cheek and clung onto his ring finger. As soon as that happened, the handprint on her face started to quickly fade around where his fingers were and seconds later it looked like nothing had ever happened. "Holy shit. It's gone." He said suddenly and Dany touched her face, feeling for anything that was abnormal or tender. She smiled a little as she continued to let tears silently fall.

"Thank you." She said quietly and he still had no idea what was happening.

"What happened? What was that?" He asked as she wiped her eyes.

"Do you remember the story I told you about my brother's birth defect?" She said and he nodded.

"Yeah, your mom healed it, well her aura did…I don't really see what that has to do with the fact there's no longer a handprint on your face." He said and she smiled a little at him. "Did I just fix it? Did I just do that?" He asked.

"Yeah, you did. That's the first time that anything like that's happened to you, isn't it?" He nodded. "I thought so…it's powerful magic, obviously."

"How did I do that?" He said and she shrugged.

"No one knows why it happens, but it's rooted in emotion." She said gently.

"Oh well I'm glad you don't look like you've been abused anymore." He said awkwardly. Suddenly, a girl screamed in the next hallway. Someone had found Brady. "We should probably leave before we get expelled or arrested. Or both." He said and they walked quickly down the hallway to the rest of their friends, who also looked alarmed at the sudden sound. Before they made it to their friends Dany stopped him and hugged him before kissing him on the cheek. She had soft lips.

"Thank you, for everything." She said quietly and then caught up with Lily. James and Remus fell into step with him and James looked like he wasn't quite sure what had just happened. Remus simply looked amused by the whole thing.

"Mate, did she just kiss you?" James said and Sirius nodded silently. "Do you mind if I ask _why_?" he said and Sirius shrugged.

* * *

James was damn concerned about Dany and he had heard more than anyone else, he suspected. He had heard their argument before they had seen the couple.

"… _And I know that you and Black have had something going on for a while so don't act like a victim." "You've got to be joking."_ They had been yelling at each other. Brady had apparently gotten sick of how close his now ex-girlfriend was with someone that wasn't him. James thought it might be a really bad idea to share this, so he pretended he hadn't heard anything. He needed to talk to Remus, and maybe Lily, before he considered telling Sirius he was a main factor in the breakup.

Before he could do anything, Dany decided that she wanted to talk. She tracked him down after Quidditch practice, only two days after. He was just on his way out of the Pitch by himself; Sirius had gotten caught up in the locker room.

"Dan. What's up?" He asked and she shrugged. She hadn't looked quite the same since Brady; there was something off about her and he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Not much…I was just wondering how much of my argument with, uh—"

"How much I heard?" He asked and she nodded. "I heard more than anyone else except maybe Moony because of his wolf ears. I heard what he said about you and Sirius, if that's what you're asking." He said and Dany's eyes got huge.

"James, there's nothing going on. You know that, right?" She said. He nodded.

"I know, I know. But he had a point, Dan. I'm not saying that he was in the right, or right at all, but he had a point. You don't have to give him your body if he already has your heart." He said quietly and Dany shook her head and her eyes started swimming with tears.

"I just wanted to make sure that you hadn't said anything about that part to anyone. That's a rumor that doesn't need to go around." She said and he nodded.

"I won't tell anyone. They're friends, but you're family." He said and hugged her. Sirius picked this time to appear. Dany immediately dried the tears up and James was rather impressed with the way she could put them away so quickly.

"Hey guys. Dan, not to be rude but what are you…?"

"Doing out here? I just needed to ask James something real quick. I better go; besides, you two smell." She said and quickly walked off.

"She looks horrible." Sirius observed and James looked at him.

"She doesn't look _that_ bad, mate. She's not very happy at the moment but she isn't tearing apart at the seams." He said and Sirius was clearly in disagreement.

"I don't know…I'm just saying that something's not right. Something else has her worried." He said and James looked at him. That would be an understatement.

"Whatever you say, man. I still think that you're overly concerned." James said and Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's probably because you're in love." He teased and Sirius hit him over the head.

"Don't say that too loud. Jessie might think you're talking about her and then that would be a train wreck if there ever was one." He said and James remembered that Sirius was, in fact, in a relationship.

"Because we all know that Jessie just isn't for you, right?" He said and Sirius rolled his eyes but said nothing on the topic.

"Do you think that I had anything to do with Dany and Harris splitting? I mean with Kenzie being involved, it all just kind of…doesn't add up." He said and James shrugged. He had _so_ much to do with Dany and Brady splitting. Dany might have snogged Brady Harris, but she never let him in. The fact that Dany had adamantly refused to cut Sirius out pissed Brady off. Not to mention that she refused to sleep with him. Brady felt cheated because she wouldn't give him her body and she had already given her heart away. She had left nothing for him to have.

"Outside of Kenzie? I don't think so; I really think it boils down to Harris is an asshole and wanted a quickie in a broom cupboard." He said with a shrug. Sirius nodded. James had watched how they'd hug for just a bit too long, make a bit too much eye contact, or sit just a little too close for years and apparently Brady hadn't missed it either. They were deeply in love and not with their significant others.


	21. We Are Young, We Are One

_Hi!_ _So, I realized last chapter that I told you all that there was an illusion to when Dany and Sirius get together, but I kind of forgot to say that it was in Feel Again (and not here), so sorry about that._

 _Okay, so now I'm going to address why I got rid of Brady and why it took so long._

 _I hated writing him, but I wanted really capture how he was so manipulative and I felt that could really only be done through a slower progression, going from being outwardly loving to downright emotionally, verbally, and (finally) physically abusive. I felt that having him become incrementally worse and worse was truer to how destructive relationships actually work._

 _The bottom line is that Brady was a major lesson for Dany in several things, including recognizing just how tolerant she is and whether or not that's a good or bad thing in some instances._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

 _Oh, also check out the AN at the end!_

* * *

 _We are young, we are one_  
 _Let us shine for what it's worth_  
 _To your place, place, place_  
 _We're on our way, way, way_  
 _We're on our way_  
 _Hold me close_  
 _We're losing time_  
 _Hold me close_  
 _We're falling to the ground_

 _Taxi drive the sun is rising_  
 _Damn the sirens, keep on driving_  
 _Flashing light, oh what a night_  
 _I miss her bed, I lost my head_  
 _And it's sunning, we're still running_  
 _For her rooftop, our last stop_  
 _Barefoot, naked, don't you let me go_

 _~On Our Way,_ The Royal Concept

* * *

Dany was cheering for her team, relaxed for the first time in a while, ever since Brady. James scored. And he scored again. And again. And again. Finally, Sirius clapped him a high-five and transferring his bat to his weaker hand to do so. Dany saw what was happening before anyone on the Pitch did. Dany saw the bludger that Sirius didn't see, even though it was flying straight towards his face. Thud. After the initial impact, everything happened in slow motion. James started to fly towards Sirius and Madam Hooch moved her whistle to her lips. The crowd gasped. The only thing that Dany really was paying attention to were the facts that Sirius was taking a one-way trip straight to the ground and James was on the other side of the Pitch; he wasn't going to make it to his best friend in time. Sirius was at least fifty feet off the ground and as fast as James was trying to get there, it just wasn't possible. Dany grabbed Lily's hand. Lily squeezed back tightly.

"Oh, God…" The redhead said faintly and Dany shook her head. No. No. No. It was _Sirius_. No matter what life threw at him, he was always fine. Sure, he got hurt; but he always bounced back. Suddenly, he stopped in midair. Dumbledore—it had to have been him to slow the descent. James rushed over to where his best friend was being lowered to the ground and he left with Sirius, who was being levitated off the Quidditch Pitch by Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore and McGonagall trailing them. Lily and Dany started pushing out of the stands. "Move! Everyone move! Prefect coming!" Lily started shouting and people started to clear a path. Judging by the looks on people's faces, they would have cleared a path anyways; they all knew how close Sirius was to Lily and especially Dany.

As soon as they were on the grounds, free from the masses of people, both girls started to look around. The injured boy they had been following was long gone—they hadn't had to wade through a crowd of people like the girls had.

"They had to have gone to the hospital wing." Dany said and Lily nodded.

"Yeah, even if he had to be transferred, they'd go there first." She answered and Dany felt her stomach clench and she suddenly thought she might be sick.

"He's not being transferred Lily." Dany snapped, not thinking. Lily nodded and both girls started to walk towards the castle. They weren't worried about crowds because the game would keep on going without Gryffindor's star beater and the chaser that had just left the Pitch with him. James and Sirius were both important to the team but they could keep going without them if they had to; Toby had made sure that they never relied too heavily on either of them, just in case. Just because it felt like Dany's world might be ending, no one else except probably Lily and James shared her feelings.

Suddenly the girls exchanged a look and both started to run through the doors of the castle, up the stairs, down a corridor, around two turns, up another flight of stairs and down one more corridor. Once the doors were in sight, both girls slowed. Lily and Dany each pushed a door open and James looked up from where he was standing with his eyes trained on the ground. He was still in his Quidditch gear. Dany ran over to him before she could stop herself. James hugged her instantly.

"I'm scared." He whispered in her hair. Dany nodded a little.

"Me too." She whispered back before they let go of each other. Lily walked over slower.

"James. What's—?" She started and suddenly Madam Pomfrey bustled over to where they were standing near the door.

"Shoo! Out! We don't need you all here!" She started to scold and James looked outraged.

"Are you mad? Why are you yelling at us when you're supposed to be healing him?" He snapped at the hospital matron and Dany wasn't particularly surprised. James became possessive and much more aggressive than usual when he was scared. "And like hell we're leaving so you might as well do your damn job and fix him. Fix him now." He snarled and Madam Pomfrey looked like she didn't know what to do with that so she went back behind a curtain that Dany supposed was hiding Sirius. Lily looked shocked.

"James…what's happening? How bad is it?" Dany asked her Godbrother quietly, putting a hand on his arm. James looked at both the girls sadly.

"It's bad. Mulciber smacked a bludger straight into the side of his head. He was unconscious before I got to him on the Pitch. You should have seen Regulus' face. He looked pissed." James added on. Dany was oddly unsurprised by this. She had somehow always doubted that the bond between siblings could vanish the way Sirius insisted it had.

"You don't think he's going to have to be transferred do you?" Lily asked and Dany glared at her again. They all knew how she felt about St. Mungo's but none of them really _understood_ how much time she had spent with those walls. They knew the number of days she had been there with her dad but no one had lived it but her…and Sirius. Sirius had lived it with her. James shrugged.

"Don't know. I haven't gotten a good look at him since Pomfrey got to him." He said and sat down in a chair.

"He's going to be fine, James. He's _always_ fine." Dany said softly and sat down next to him. James looked unconvinced and Lily quietly took a seat next to Dany.

"You have some unwavering faith and hope, has anyone ever told you that?" He asked and Dany shrugged.

"Hope? Yes, all the time. Faith? This has nothing to do with faith."

"Whatever you say…" He said softly and suddenly Madam Pomfrey walked over to him.

"Well now that Mr. Black is stable, I do believe I have the time to tell you all to get out. It's family only and you all know it." She said dryly and like the universe had summoned him, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the doorway.

"Poppy, I do think we can make an exception on that particular rule. I do believe that Sirius Black wouldn't particularly care for his family's presence at the moment…I do believe, however, that the company of Mr. Potter, Miss Danilynn, and Miss Evans would be greatly welcome." He said serenely and Pomfrey looked like she was going to protest. She apparently decided against bickering with the Headmaster and simply nodded. Lily, Dany, and James all rushed towards the bed and Dany felt her heart squeeze as every organ in her body squirmed.

Sirius looked like himself except half of his face was covered in blood and there was a bandage on his head that bowed inward slightly, near his temple. Dany thought that was where his head had taken the hit and his skull had crunched.

"It's a damn miracle that he's even alive at all." Dany said absently and Lily, James, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey looked at her. "What? Another inch towards his face and it would have killed him almost instantly; no one can survive a direct hit to the temple like that." She said with a shrug.

"Miss Masters…how did you know that?" Pomfrey asked reproachfully.

"Because it's a kill hit. A set of knuckles to the temples hard enough can knock someone out, if not kill. A bludger? You can forget it." Dany said hollowly. She didn't really care about explaining herself and she knew that neither James nor Lily really cared either. Both professors and the matron all left quietly and Dany, James, and Lily exchanged looks. This was bad.

"I'm staying with him." James said hollowly and Dany and Lily nodded.

"We'll stay too, James." Lily said softly and James smiled at her, so kindly and vulnerably that she looked taken aback.

"No, you girls go…he's going to be out for a while." Dany shook her head.

"We'll take shifts. Eight hours each should cover 24 hours. One of us will come get you at…6 tonight, alright?" Dany asked and James nodded before looking at his brother's face mournfully.

"Alright…see you guys." He said and Dany kissed the top of his head gently before casting one more look at her injured friend and going to leave with Lily. Before they could get anywhere near the exit, someone came tearing into the doorway. It was Jessie Simpson. It was Sirius' girlfriend, otherwise known as the biggest attention whore at Hogwarts.

"Where is he?" She started screaming and everyone just stared at her blankly. "Out of my way, Masters." She snapped and both girls glared at her even though Lily had been completely ignored.

"Pleasure as always, Simpson." Dany said dryly. She was ignored as the annoying blonde started to look for her boyfriend. Dany and Lily followed her, hanging behind to see what would happen.

"Has he been asking for me? Does he know I'm here?" She was asking James frantically. James looked like he was at a loss for words and looked at Dany, clearly asking her to say something.

"He took a bludger to the head. He won't be awake—let alone asking for anyone—for a while." She said blandly and Jessie looked at her scathingly.

"You're just trying to get rid of me, Masters." Dany raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, unconscious people can't talk. That's a fact and it has nothing to do with you, or me for that matter. He won't be talking until Pomfrey fixes his head at the very least…but then again you manage with an _empty_ head so who knows? Maybe miracles _do_ happen." She snapped and Lily and James both laughed and Jessie looked mortified.

"I won't stand here and be insulted. Someone come get me when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll want to see his _girlfriend_." She said loftily before walking off.

"What the hell was that about? I don't think I've ever spoken more than five words to her." Dany said and Lily shook her head slightly.

"Oh Danilynn…come on, let's go. See you at 6, James." Lily said before guiding her friend out of the room. Dany walked next to Lily for a while, they even made it back to Gryffindor Tower before Dany once again felt the overwhelming urge to vomit. Except this time there was no way she could keep her breakfast down. She ran up a flight of stairs and opened the door that said "Fifth Years". She found the toilet not three seconds before she started violently throwing up. "Dany?" Lily said cautiously.

Dany moaned into the toilet bowl. She waited a second and nodded. "I'm good. I'm good. I'm alright." Dany said, looking up at her best friend.

"Come on, Dan. Get some sleep. You'll feel better, I promise. I'll be here when you wake up." She said gently and Dany nodded before closing her eyes.

* * *

Lily was sitting in her own bed, waiting for her turn to sit with Sirius. She'd be with him from 6 to 2 in the morning. Then Dany would be there from 2 to 10. Dany was sleeping; she had been asleep ever since Lily had brought her to her bed almost five hours ago. Suddenly, Dany gasped from her bed and stumbled out from between her curtains. Lily looked up.

"Dan? Everything okay?" She asked and Dany didn't acknowledge her. Lily got up and inspected her friend's face. Gold eyes. She was having a vision. She frantically grabbed her sketchbook and started to draw. Lily backed off from her friend and went to the bathroom, in preparation for the potentially funny drawing (some of them were rather hilarious, if she was being honest). She came back and Dany was still going. Lily watched for a few more minutes, keeping her distance. Just as abruptly as she had got up, she was back to her normal self. She looked around and realized that she was standing up. Blue eyes. It was over.

"Lils? Did it happen?" She asked and Lily nodded. She looked down at what was in her hands. "Oh…oh my." She said and put a hand over her mouth. Lily approached her and looked at the drawing.

It was an older Dany, maybe by ten or so years, and she was obviously _very_ pregnant. She had her hands on her stomach, which she was looking at lovingly. Lily noticed that she had a sizable ring on her ring finger. There was a second pair of hands reaching from the edge of the paper that obviously belonged to a child, as they were so much smaller than Dany's hands, touching Dany's extended stomach. And last, there was a set of definitively masculine hands wearing a wedding band. Whoever he was, he had his arms wrapped around Dany from the back, letting his hands rest on her stomach as well. The only face that was visible was Dany's. The only part of her husband that was visible was his hands, arms, and part of his torso and only the child's hands were in the frame. She and her husband were expecting their second child.

"Oh, Dany…I know how much you want this. I'm happy to see that it works out for you." Lily said softly and smiled at her friend. Dany was a kind human being and the violence of this war went against her gentle nature. She didn't like all of the violence but she also wanted justice. It left her in the awkward position between wanting hard-won justice and her nature that was best described as "do no harm". She'd be as good of a Healer as an Auror. She'd be a wonderful mother one day.

"Thanks…I wonder who he is." She said absently. Lily agreed; she wished that Dany would finally fill in some of the gaps. Her husband's face would be a good place to start.

"You look so happy." Lily said and she really did. Older Dany was absolutely glowing. It was everything she wanted. She had a husband and a couple of kids.

"Yeah…I do, don't I? Well, let's not carried away, it's probably more than a decade off, Lils. We'll have to wait." She said and Lily nodded, checking the time.

"It's six. I'm going to go give James a break from staring at his best friend's face. I'll see you at two." Lily said and Dany nodded before crawling back into bed.

"I'm going back to sleep." She said before pulling the covers over her face. Lily grabbed her wand and walked down to the hospital wing, not bothered with being caught; she was a Prefect. It was her job to catch people, not the other way around. She quietly walked into the hospital wing and James looked up and smiled half-heartedly.

"No improvement?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No…he's stable though and nothing's gotten worse either, so that's good I guess. Pomfrey's healed his head so we're just waiting on him to wake up now." He added on and she nodded as she walked towards the bed.

"That's good. I'm glad he'll be okay…you should have seen Dany's reaction when I mentioned him being transferred to St. Mungo's. She freaked. It was like I suggested shipping him off to the fiery pits of hell." She said and James shrugged.

"She's spent a lot of time with the people she loves in St. Mungo's. I can't particularly say I blame her." He said. Lily nodded again as she sat down next to him. "Thirty-five days in St. Mungo's is rough. I thought a week was bad." He said quietly.

"What?" She asked, not sure she'd heard him right.

"Yeah…my parents were both laid up for about a week when I was about thirteen. They had both gotten hurt in the line of duty. Daniel and Rhea were really good to me. They helped me and stayed with me the whole time. Dany and Rae couldn't because they had to be in school. Dumbledore wouldn't let them come home; he's nice but he's not that nice and couldn't find an exception in the rules, even if he had tried to send them home with me." He said quietly. Lily was surprised; she never really considered that James carried a similar burden that Dany did.

"You must worry about them a lot, huh?" She said and he nodded.

"All the time. Every time I get mail I think it might be a letter telling me that they're dead or insane or comatose or worse. I can't particularly say that I enjoy St. Mungo's either." He mused and Lily felt bad for him.

"I don't blame you…why don't you go get some sleep? You've had a long day and you look like you could use it." She said gently and he looked at her. "I'll be right here with him, I promise." He quietly got up and left, with one last look at his best friend. Lily moved over a chair into the sat James had just left and stared at Sirius. "Alright Black, listen here. I've got a best friend sick to her stomach worried about you and I don't think that James is ever going to forgive himself if you don't wake up so do us all a favor and open your damn eyes." She leaned back in her chair and sighed. It was going to be a long ass night.

Lily checked the time for at least the hundredth time that night. It was twenty till two. She was expecting Dany any minute now, unless she had slept through her alarm, which she doubted greatly. She doubted that Dany had been sleeping at all since she had been disturbed by her vision almost eight hours ago. Suddenly, the door creaked open of it's own accord.

"Right on time…actually I think you might be early. That's a first." She said and she waited for Dany to pull off the Invisibility Cloak. Except she didn't.

"I don't think you were waiting for _me_ , Evans. You're smart but I don't think you're a seer." A distinctly male voice said. She didn't really recognize it. She wasn't very familiar with it and that set her on edge.

"Uh, well it would be awfully nice to see who I'm talking to." She said, her eyes flicking around as her hand drifted towards her wand. Whoever it was knew how to cast a damn good Disillusionment Charm. Suddenly, a form appeared in the chair next to her. Lily jumped. "Shit." She gasped, startled by how close the other person was.

"Potty Mouth Evans…who would've guessed?" He said and Lily finally got a good look at his face.

" _Regulus?_ " She asked disbelievingly.

"Yup. Nice to meet you." He said and kicked his feet up on his brother's hospital bed.

"Likewise…if you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you here? Last I checked; there's no real love lost between you two." She said carefully and he shrugged.

"What can I say? I like my brother and I don't want him to die. It's not a crime, Evans." He said and Lily was rather taken aback. The more he spoke, the more he loosened up, the more like Sirius he sounded.

"I'm not saying that it is. I'm just surprised." She said and he didn't seem bothered by this.

"What did Pomfrey say?" He asked.

"I'm not really sure. I wasn't here when she did her full work-up and exam of his head. Dan said that it was damn close though…said another inch forwards and he would've been dead before he hit the ground." She said and watched the boy's expression.

"Masters _would_ know, wouldn't she? That family knows all about killing. Not like they have much of a choice these days…she's not having him transferred?" He asked and Lily shook her head.

"I don't think so. I think if she was going to, she would have already." Lily checked the time. It was two. "Well, as nice as this has been, we're about to have a shift change so I'd scoot if you don't want to deal with the aforementioned Masters." Lily said and Regulus didn't seem bothered by this.

"Hey, I never said I had a problem with her. I think she's probably a perfectly normal person. From what I've seen of her, she seems pretty nice. She definitely doesn't have the thickest skin in the world though." He added on and Lily silently agreed with that.

"Oh, don't flatter me too much, Regulus. You might hurt yourself." A feminine voice said and Dany pulled the cloak off and walked towards them from just inside the entrance of the wing.

"I'll do my best, Masters." He said dryly and she looked amused.

"I'm surprised that it didn't burn your mouth to say something nice about my family. Mommy wouldn't be very happy with you." She said and, to Lily's surprise, Regulus laughed.

"You have _no_ idea." He said and Dany grinned. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course Dany would get on with Regulus; she was best friends with his elder brother. The boys were notoriously similar in many aspects and apparently they shared a sense of humor.

"You've got that right…someone we know likes to keep us all in the dark." She said and Lily saw her face shift to concern for a minute and her body language changed for a second before she returned her attention back to Regulus. Dany was hurting, that much was obvious, but she was living by the same motto she had always lived by in tough situations: fake it 'til you make it.

"You can't even begin to imagine how much he keeps from you…from all of you." He added on. Lily started to correct him. He talked to James and Dany.

"I know we can't. And it's not our place to pry."

"Come on, Regulus; I'll walk you back to your common room. If anyone stops us, I found you near the Astronomy tower after hours and I already gave you a week of detention." Lily said and all but dragged him out. She paused next to Dany. "James will be here at ten. I hope you brought something to do; sitting here is boring as shit." She added on.

"Great, I'm glad I brought nothing to do." Dany said before sitting down in Lily's seat. Lily walked Regulus out of the hospital wing and they started to walk towards the Slytherin common room.

"So, Evans…can you do me a favor?" Regulus said. Lily glanced at him.

"That depends…what is it?" She asked warily. She had been warned many times about the slippery tongues that most Slytherins had.

"Don't tell my brother that I ever came to see him." He said and Lily was surprised by that request.

"What? Why not?" She asked blankly and he shrugged.

"I don't want him to know. You know, it was obvious from the minute we could both talk how different we were. He wasn't meant for the last name he has. He was meant for the likes of James Potter and Danilynn Masters; he's _good_. He always has been and I _never_ have been. And I know that; I like to think it says something about me that I know what I am. He's a good person; he's selfless. I've let him think that I don't love him because if he knew that I was still his little brother that needed him, he'd stay. He'd stay with me because he knows that I won't leave with him."

"Regulus—"

"Swear to me that you won't tell him." He insisted and Lily nodded.

"I swear…damn, she was right. I'm actually rather glad that you made me swear to keep that a secret because if Dany found out, I'd never hear the end of it." He looked intrigued by this. It appeared that all of the Black men had a fascination with her friend. Lily hoped that fascination didn't extend to Orion.

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"Because she has an older brother who she adores endlessly. She never thought that love like that could be so casually thrown away as it seemed it had been between you two. She always thought that there was more to it than that…it appears that she's right." Lily said thoughtfully.

"Masters is smarter than I give her credit for…I wasn't kidding, you know, when I said he keeps you in the dark. The things that happen to him at home…they're horrific and it needs to stop. He needs to leave and never come back." He said softly as they entered the dungeons.

"What—?"

"I'm not saying; it's not my place to share what his personal hell looks like."

"But you've seen it? That's what she does? She locks you in your own head?" Lily asked, horrified and assuming he had his mother in mind. Regulus nodded.

"For the most part, that's what she does. And yeah, I've seen it…it's been changing for a while, evolving. She's been trying to figure out what really hurts him for years."

"That's horrific." Lily said and felt slightly nauseated.

"You should know that last summer, my mother got to the bottom of what gets under my brother's skin and what really makes him hurt. It's been the same ever since then." He said and looked around. "I think I can take it from here. Thanks for the chat." He said with a grin that reminded her strongly of his older brother. He stopped after a few steps and turned back around, no longer smiling at all. "Keep an eye on Masters, Evans. You don't want her to…fall into the wrong hands, shall we say? It wouldn't be pretty." He added on seriously and then vanished.

Days passed like that. James and Dany were no longer going to classes because James sat with Sirius during the day and Dany was so exhausted from being up all night. Four days passed and people were starting to wonder if he was _ever_ going to wake up. James continued to look miserable and Dany looked like she was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from losing her sanity.

* * *

Someone was talking. Someone wasn't just talking; someone was reading. Sirius had no idea why he could hear someone reading when he was pretty sure that only dead people felt like this.

"…Now that very day the hundred years were ended; and as the prince came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, through which he went with ease, and they shut in after him as thick as ever. Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogs asleep; and the horses were standing in the stables; and on the roof sat the pigeons fast asleep, with their heads under their wings. And when he came into the palace, the flies were sleeping on the walls; the spit was standing still; the butler had the jug of ale at his lips, going to drink a draught; the maid sat with a fowl in her lap ready to be plucked."

What the hell? It was Dany speaking, he was sure. He told his eyes to open and they maybe moved a little. "Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which…" He yelled at his eyes to open again and they finally did. She looked up and the book smacked to the floor. "Sirius?" She asked abruptly and she immediately changed position from having her feet kicked up on his nightstand to paying attention.

"Hey, Dan." She leaned down over him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, surprised. Her hair was all over his face and she was in sweatpants and a tank top. He noticed that even in the dim light, she wasn't wearing makeup and she looked exhausted.

"Wow, hey Dan. Is everything okay?" He asked and he felt her arms momentarily tighten.

"You almost died. Do you remember what happened?" She asked him quietly. Her arms were still wrapped around him and her hair was tickling his arms.

"Not really…last thing I remember is the game." He said and she let go of him and he was rather sad that she had moved.

"You took a bludger to your temple. It cracked your skull. You damn near almost took a fifty-foot tumble too, except Dumbledore stopped you from hitting the ground. James tried to catch you but he wasn't fast enough. You've been out for about four days. You're lucky to be alive. Mulciber was about an inch off from killing you." She said gently and as she said it, it started to come back in flashes.

"Is there a particular reason you were reading out loud?" He asked and she shrugged. He noticed that the moon was getting fuller and the moonlight was catching on her hair, making it glow a little. It looked like she had a halo. Angelic Dany Masters.

"Madam Pomfrey told me to. I was already reading and she told me to read out loud. Apparently the comatose like fairytales." She said with a laugh. He chuckled and then winced. His head felt like a horse had kicked him.

"Tell me, Danilynn, why were you reading 'Briar Rose'? Waiting for your happy ending?" He asked and rubbed his head. She shrugged and Sirius was still wondering if he had suffered damage to his verbal filter because he had seriously just let the words 'happy ending' come out of his mouth.

"Oh, you got me; I'm waiting for a prince to kiss me so we can live happily ever after. No, more like I got a book of fairytales for my birthday last year and I'm just now getting around to reading them…wait how did you know what I was reading?" She asked and he wanted to smack himself for openly admitting that he had read fairytales in his life. _Super manly, Sirius_. _Great job._ He thought to himself.

"Uh, my uncle. He'd read them to me when I was a little kid when he babysat me overnight. He had a book of them. God that thing must be ancient by now…who sent you the book?" He said and she laughed.

"Don't know. It came anonymous. It's all a great big mystery." She said with a smile before picking the book off the ground. He caught a glimpse of it and felt his mouth open slightly.

"Let me see that." He said suddenly and she looked at him curiously but still handed it to him. He flipped through the pages to the end and sure enough, there was a red mark drawn in marker down one of the pages. "You said this was anonymous?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. There wasn't a name…just a note. But I didn't recognize the handwriting, so I just kind of hit a dead end with who sent it." She said carefully, like she wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"Do you still have the note?" He asked and flip another few pages and saw an orange stain covering an entire page. A little kid had spilled pumpkin juice onto the book. She nodded and handed it to him.

"Yeah, I use it as a bookmark. Why? Sirius, what the hell are you going on about?" She asked and he read the note. _Love me, read me, never leave me._ Dany may not have recognized the handwriting, but he did.

"This was mine when I was a kid." He said.

"What?" She said like she wasn't quite sure that she had heard him right. "I think you're still kind of loopy from the hit your head took. I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey…" She said and started to stand up.

"Okay, I'm not loopy. The handwriting; it's Alphard's. This was the book that he used to read to me from when I was at his house. I dumped pumpkin juice on it when I was like eight here." He pointed and flipped to the page that had been drawn on. "And when I was maybe four or five, I wrote in it with a marker…that's how I recognized it." He said and handed it back to her. She put it on the nightstand.

"You're joking." She said and he shook his head.

"Not at all. I have no idea why he sent it to you though. I didn't even know he still had it." He said and Dany shrugged.

"He seems like he has a reason for everything. And his cryptic note probably had some alternative meaning other than a cute little rhyme." She commented and he agreed with that. Alphard had probably taken an educated guess and figured that Sirius would eventually see the book and then the note; it was a jab at his nephew, who was very much in love with the girl who had been sent the book.

"Maybe he's just going senile." He said and Dany laughed.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. He seemed pretty with it when I ran into him in the middle of Diagon Alley." She said and smiled a little. "I really should go get Madam Pomfrey." She said quietly and he suddenly really didn't want her to leave.

"Aw, I think it can wait for a bit. You left me on a cliffhanger with that story." He said and she laughed.

"You've got to be joking. I'm _not_ reading you bedtime stories." She said.

"You just were, you know." He said and she laughed again.

"I was reading to your unconscious body. I'm not reading to you when you're awake, smartass." She said and he rolled his eyes.

"You know you actually can hear when you're knocked out like that? I heard more than what my eyes were open for." He said and she looked embarrassed, which he thought was rather cute. He sternly reminded himself that not only was she definitely not interested, but that he had a girlfriend that definitely wasn't her.

"Oh, that's fantastic." She said and still looked mildly embarrassed.

"Aw, come on Dan. I'm injured and in a hospital bed. I think you can finish up the story." He said teasingly and she rolled her eyes.

"I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not." She said and he was actually surprised to see that he wasn't joking at all.

"Nope. No joke. Come on, please." He said and she started to waver. He pulled out the puppy-dog eyes.

"Okay, the puppy-eyes are unfair, you can literally turn into a puppy." She protested and finally caved. "Okay, okay. You win. I'll read it." She said and she picked the book up and started to flip through it again until she found her spot.

"Thank you." He said smugly and she flipped him off.

"Shut up. I have to find my spot again, you ass. Hold on…okay I think this is close." She said and he waited for her to start talking. He was surprised by how calming her reading voice was, when she did start reading. "'Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was; and there she lay, fast asleep on a couch by the window. She looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke."

Sirius definitely didn't remember this story the way she was telling it. He figured that was because Alphard probably told it with much less of a romantic feel and more of a joking attitude.

"She smiled upon him; and they went out together; and soon the king and queen also awoke, and all the court, and gazed on each other with great wonder. And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs jumped up and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed again; the fire in the kitchen blazed up; round went the jack, and round went the spit, with the goose for the king's dinner upon it; the butler finished his draught of ale; and the maid went on plucking the fowl.

"And then the prince and Briar Rose were married, and the wedding feast was given; and they lived happily together all their lives long.'" She said quietly and closed the book. "I think this belongs to you." She said and handed it to him with a smile. "Tell your uncle that I enjoyed it." She said and then stood up. "I'm going to go get Madam Pomfrey." She said and Sirius flipped through it again. He always recalled this being one of the more joking and sarcastic stories that his uncle told. Who actually fell in love with a girl? It was downright lovely when someone that could be categorized as a romantic and not a jaded, middle-aged man was telling it. It was almost as if she half-believed that things like that happened; it was as if she _wanted_ to believe in it.

"Sirius Black, you about scared your friends half to death!" Poppy Pomfrey said, as she rushed out of her room, Dany in tow, as she turned on lights and brought the room to a comfortable brightness. "You should have heard James Potter when I tried to kick him out. Your generation needs to learn some respect for authority." She said and started to inspect his head. Dany watched on, looking amused.

"James is, well, he's James." He said and winced as she prodded his head.

"Well, that's certainly one way to put it. Now, how are you feeling? Dizzy? Nauseous? Weak?" She asked and he shrugged.

"A bit weak, I suppose. Nothing really feels bad unless I move my head too much." He said and she nodded. "I was a bit dizzy when I first woke up but it went away." He said and she inspected his eyes. He had never noticed that Madam Pomfrey had brown eyes. He definitely noticed as she stuck her face right up in his to get a look at his face. Dany made a kissy face at him from behind the matron's back and he fought the urge to react. "Are you going to kiss her too?" She mouthed at him and puckered her lips again, trying not to laugh as Madam Pomfrey did her job.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Black." She said as she tapped his head with her wand before walking back to her office.

"So you're seriously just going to sit there all night?" He asked Dany.

"Probably. I'm on duty until 10 and I don't really think Madam Pomfrey would smile upon me screwing up one of her beds. I won't stare at you, I swear." She said and hid her face behind her hands. He laughed.

"I'll take your word for it. Now go to sleep, Dany." He said and she nodded and shifted her weight around in the chair. It took her a little while but she eventually fell asleep, her breathing deepening and evening out. She shifted around uncomfortably and it reminded Sirius of when she had been in the hospital with Daniel. She had slept the same way; she had been restless and slept sporadically at best. Except then she had slept on his lap and not next to his hospital bed like she was now. Sirius closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It worked after about ten minutes.

The nightmares woke him up suddenly. His waking was apparently loud enough to wake up Dany too. By the time he was completely coherent, she was leaning over him, and looking very concerned.

"Sirius?" She asked. She looked around and saw nothing wrong apparently because her gaze turned back to him. "Are you okay?" She asked gently and he nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, Dan." He said, trying to blow off the fact that his hands were shaking and clammy. She sat down again.

"I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't. I was reading and you started talking…you're okay and you're safe here." She said quietly and he felt his stomach sink. He had no idea that he talked in his sleep. He had no way of knowing; he had never shared a bed with someone and the guys all kept silencing charms up because of snoring and, apparently, sleep talking.

"Yeah, I know. It was just a bad dream." He said again, trying to downplay what she had obviously heard.

"What did they do to you? What have they done?" She asked and leaned forward to look at him, not cruelly or like an experiment, but like she genuinely had no idea and wanted to know.

"Nothing you need to know about. Nothing worth talking about." He said and she looked sympathetic, not that she could know about the kind of things he had lived. She had a good childhood to look back on and a privileged life ahead of her.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked quietly. Even though they were both quiet, it sounded really loud in the deathly silent wing of the castle.

"I think this is something I have to handle on my own." He said and she nodded, not pressing the topic further.

* * *

 _Raid last night 45 miles to the north of London. 4 Death Eaters in custody, 7 Death Eaters killed, 57 civilian injuries, 32 civilian casualties, 5 Aurors injured, 2 Aurors dead. A. Malfoy, P. Black, W. Crabbe, and H. Goyle are in the custody of the Aurors. Unknown numbers of Death Eaters escaped the site of the raid and are at large. Civilian and Auror casualties and severe injuries include…_

A list of names of the injured and dead Aurors and civilians followed, the dead first and then the injured. Dany put the paper down on the coffee table she was sitting cross-legged in front of in the common room. She put her head in her hands and sighed. She wasn't worried about anyone reading it; not only was it 5 in the morning, the letter was anagrammed German. She hated these letters and reading the list of the dead and wounded made her almost physically ill. She'd write letters to the families of the Aurors that had died or been injured, like she always did; she'd say that they fought bravely and that they gave their lives for the life and liberty of others and that their sacrifices wouldn't be forgotten, she'd say that she had known the dead and that she always found them inspirational. She knew nothing she did could make their loss better but it was her duty. The families would receive one from her, her brother, and both of her parents.

A door closing up the staircase to the boys' rooms made her look up. She quickly flipped over the papers and wondered who the hell was insane enough to be up at this time on a Tuesday morning, other than her. She heard the stairs creak and she saw Sirius walk down from the stairs. She relaxed, knowing that it wasn't some Second Year that was going to look at her weird and spread rumors. He looked surprised to see her.

"Dan? Not to be rude or anything but what are you doing up? Last time I checked, you don't particularly like missing sleep." He said and Dany noticed that he was in shorts and a t-shirt and had running shoes on. It was almost two weeks after his accident and he was back to being perfectly healthy.

"Yeah, I just got a letter from my dad…I couldn't go back to sleep, is all. You going somewhere?" She asked and he shrugged before sitting down next to her on the floor.

"Yeah, I was going to go running. You know, Quidditch season and all…helps me think too. What'd your dad have to say? Not to pry." He said and she handed him the letter. "I can't read this. Is this gibberish?" Dany shook her head.

"It's not gibberish, it's anagrammed German. It's to make sure no one who intercepts the owl can read it. Secrecy is key in a war, you know." She said tiredly and he looked intrigued, revolted yet intrigued.

"Oh, well I was going to ask what it said but I don't think that's appropriate considering that it's apparently confidential." He said and she stopped for a second. She looked at him critically and bit her lip, thinking about it. Her dad would bloody kill her if she told someone what was in that letter. But she still hesitated; she knew Sirius and she was very sure, deep in her bones, that he wouldn't say anything.

"No, it's fine. I can translate it, give it here." She said and he handed it to her. "It says 'raid last night 45 miles to the north of London. 4 Death Eaters captured, 7 Death Eaters killed, 57 civilian injuries, 32 civilian casualties, 5 Aurors injured, 2 Aurors dead. A. Malfoy, P. Black, W. Crabbe, and H. Goyle are in the custody of the Aurors. Unknown numbers of Death Eaters escaped the site of the raid and are at large.' Then there's a list of civilian and Auror injuries and casualties." She said and he looked horrified.

"I'm assuming that would be Abraxas, Pollux, Wyla, and Hannah." He said and she nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah…do you know them personally?" She asked and he nodded.

"Abraxas' son is engaged to my cousin, Pollux is my Uncle Alphard's father, and Wyla and Hannah are just a couple of people that have always just…been around, I guess."

"Alphard's dad's a Death Eater?" She asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, it was quite the scandal when Alphard went rogue and denounced the family…but it's no wonder you couldn't sleep. How long's the list?"

"96 people long." She said and rubbed her hands over her face. "96 people were killed or injured last night; good, innocent people that died for nothing but the ravings of a madman." She muttered and Sirius rubbed her back and she leaned into his shoulder heavily.

"Oh Dan…I'm sorry." He said and she nodded.

"I'm scared." She whispered and he hugged her.

"I am too. Now why don't you put that away and come with me? Exercise will help, I promise. Besides, there's a pretty killer view at the end." He baited and she looked at him like he was mad.

"You know I'm not exactly a marathoner right?" She laughed and he nodded.

"If you're anything like your Godbrother, I don't doubt it. It's only a couple of miles; come on, I won't even make fun when you have to stop." He said and she finally relented.

"Alright, now that you've promised not to make fun of me, I'll go. I think I'll put real clothes on though and put _these_ away." She said with a smile and picked up the papers. Before walking upstairs to change, he laughed.

"Don't forget decent shoes and a sports bra." He said with a laugh and she threw a crumpled up piece of paper at his head.

"Stop thinking about my bras, Sirius Black. You have a girlfriend." She said as she went back to her room. He has a girlfriend, she reminded herself sternly.

She walked back down after going through her clothes to find something that looked the least hot. Shorts and a t-shirt was as good as it was getting, she figured and quietly slipped out of her room without waking anyone up. She smiled to herself as she walked downstairs; this was a sudden turn. No matter what happened, it was better than writing letters to dead Aurors' families. Sirius looked up with a smirk.

"You're going to die in clothes that heavy." He told her and she shrugged.

"It's all I have." She said and he shrugged as if to say that it was her choice. "And don't worry, I put on a sports bra." She said and they walked out of the common room as he laughed. They walked out the front doors of the castle and before she could say anything else he turned to her and winked.

"Catch me if you can." He said and ran off, laughing. She ran after him yelling that that was completely unfair and she wanted a redo. Eventually he slowed, well around the lake, and she caught up a minute later because she had been unable to catch him.

"You suck." She laughed. She sounded out of breath to even herself. "Like actually you suck. And now you're going to take me to some obscure part of the grounds and I'm going to die or something." She joked and he shook his head.

"I _am_ taking you to an obscure part of the grounds. But I won't let the bears eat you, I swear." He said she laughed.

"That's comforting, thank you." She said and he shrugged a shoulder.

"That's me, I'm the epitome of a comforting presence." He said and then looked around as if to get his bearing. "Alright, now you want to lose to me fair and square?" he asked and she laughed but still had to admit there was no way she could outrun him.

"Sure. And you better not _let_ me win, Sirius Black. I'll kick your ass." She said and they started running again and sure enough, he suddenly stopped about five minutes later and she was losing by a good bit.

"Don't pass out Dan, I don't want to have to carry you back." He said and she flipped him off as she slowed to a walk as she neared him.

"Fuck you. Seriously…oh wow, this is incredible." She said suddenly, looking around for the first time since she'd stopped. "Thanks for not telling me that we were going uphill the entire time." She said and he laughed.

"I didn't want to give it away."

"I knew that was harder than a flat two miles, you ass." She said but continued to look around. He had stopped on top of one of the cliffs that surrounded the Black Lake opposite of the castle. It was gorgeous. She sat down a few feet from the edge, preferring not to take an accidental swan dive. He sat down next to her.

"So tell me, is the view worth it?" He said and she nodded.

"Yeah, it is…you never really realize how beautiful it is here, not until you see it like this." She said absently.

"So, you still feel like you have a giant raincloud over your head?" He asked and she thought about it.

"Not really. It's awfully hard to be upset from up here. Everything just seems so…far away, I guess." She said. "Why? Are you experiencing full-on teenage angst over there?" He chuckled.

"No, no angst. But you're definitely sweating me out. I usually run without a shirt and I didn't realize how much I hate having one on until I didn't really have a choice." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"Is that your way of asking me if I'm cool with you taking your shirt off?" She said, mildly amused.

"Um yeah…I think I might pass out I'm sweating so much." He said and she waved a hand.

"Uh, go ahead. I don't care but I think Jessie wouldn't be particularly thrilled with that choice." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm dating Johanna. I dumped Jessie last week." He said and she rolled her eyes and lay on her back.

"Oh I'm sorry, my mistake that I confused your transient and interchangeable girlfriends. So Johanna's what? Number eight? Nine?" She said and closed her eyes, enjoying the cool grass.

"Number nine. She's number nine." He said quietly. Dany kept her eyes closed but responded.

"What happened with Jessie? Did she finally realize that she wanted a guy who doesn't set off dungbombs with his friends for giggles? I know it was you that did that to the Slytherin common room, just by the way." She said and smiled, even with her eyes closed.

"No…she got pissed at me and set an ultimatum so I walked. It wasn't really that complicated, honestly." He said and she heard him lay down near her. "Then Johanna started dropping hints and now I'm dating her." She opened her eyes and stared at the sky. Sunrise was on the horizon.

"Johanna's nice enough. She's a big gossiper though, I hear her talk in the bathroom; she can be pretty brutal. Lils said that she heard her talking about getting her period in like Third Year at the top of her lungs. At least I think that was Johanna and not someone else." She said and he laughed.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. The gossiping part, not the bit about her period; I don't really care about her period." He said and she grinned.

"Oh, trust me you'll care _a lot_ about her period when it doesn't come." She said with a laugh and looked over at him for the first time since lying down. He looked mortified. "What? Not ready to be a daddy, Sirius?" She continued to tease and laugh. He continued to look horrified.

"Ugh, I'd be a horrible parent. Please don't ever say that." He said and she sat up to watch the sun rise over the castle.

"Aw, I don't know…I mean you couldn't be _that_ bad. Actually I take that back, you could be that bad." She laughed and he pushed her shoulder as he sat up too.

"Please don't ever talk about accidental pregnancies again. I'm careful; I don't want to be a father." He said and she smiled.

"You don't see some shithead kids in your future?" He shook his head. "No wife or kids or pretty house to raise a family in?" She asked with an amused smile.

"No way. Besides, it's not like I'll live past twenty with the way things are right now…what about you?"

"What about me? How old do I think I'm going to live to?" She asked, looking over at him.

"No, I meant the other part. You want kids and a husband that's home for dinner every night?" He asked and she didn't really consider whether he was joking.

"Yeah, I do actually…I'd love to have handprints all over the windows and give Mom and Dad grandkids one day." She said and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. She paused. "I've never actually told anyone that except for James. Please don't repeat it." She said as the sun started to peek out from above the castle.

"Hey, I promise I won't tell anyone that you're the marriage and kids type—Marauder's honor." He said and she smiled a little. "We should probably go back…we have class at nine." Dany checked her watch and sure enough, it was seven. That left her with barely enough time to get ready comfortably and eat breakfast by the time they got back to the castle.

The return trip was much easier, probably because it was downhill, but both of them were both sweating and gross by the time they reached the castle. Sirius had long ago ditched his shirt and Dany was pretty sure that something was broken from the running and the laughing and the general exertion her lungs had just experienced. Sirius pulled his shirt back on and they walked into the castle. Dany kicked her shoes off in the Entrance Hall and wiggled her toes on the cold stone floors.

"You're going to get a disease."

"Shut up, it feels good." She said and they kept walking up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Dany checked the time and thought that Lily was probably the only one awake her room. "Alright, I'm going to go explain myself to Lily Evans as to where I was so wish me luck." She said and he grinned.

"Good luck; I think you'll need it too." She started to walk up the stairs. "Oh and Dan, I fully expect to beat your ass again tomorrow morning too." He said and she laughed.

"Did you just ask me to go running with you? That's an awful lot of commitment for a guy that's dodging marriage." She said and he laughed.

"I know, this is a big step for me. And it's more fun when it's not just my thoughts and me. See you at 5 tomorrow." He said and she smiled and walked upstairs. She opened the door to her room and almost immediately ran into Lily.

"Danilynn Masters. Where have you—are you sweating?" She asked suddenly and Dany nodded.

"Yeah…it's kind of a long story Lils. I'll tell you later." She said and proceeded to go into the bathroom to get a shower before the other girls woke up. She couldn't help but smile a little.

* * *

Lily had just rolled out of bed and glanced at Dany's bed. Empty. She looked at her nightstand and sure enough, there were letters from her father on them. More news that no one could know. She had been just about to wake up Alice when Dany walked into the room. Except she wasn't in pajamas, she was in a t-shirt, some shorts and had running shoes in her hand.

"Danilynn Masters. Where have you—are you sweating?" Lily asked as she noticed her friend's hair was partially plastered to her forehead. That was unlike Dany, to willingly go exercise bright and early in the morning.

"Yeah…it's kind of a long story Lils. I'll tell you later." She said and dropped her shoes before going in the shower. Lily looked at the shoes hard before waking up Alice and Marlene.

"Get up you two! Dany's out of bed before you and that says a lot, you lazy asses!" Lily said and pushed them both out of bed. Both girls groaned and swore at Lily. She brushed it off, used to it. A few minutes later Dany walked out of the bathroom and started looking for her uniform, wrapped in a towel. Marlene and Alice both ran into the bathroom, fighting for the shower first, and the door closed behind them. Dany had already showered and Lily showered at night so she decided that it was pretty safe to pin Dany down about why she had come in here looking like she had just run a marathon.

"Lily, before you ask, there's a perfectly good explanation to that." Dany said and Lily raised an eyebrow as she started to get dressed.

"I'm interested to hear it." Lily said and Dany told her a story about her being downstairs and her and Sirius talking and then he had coaxed her into go out to, of all things, run.

"That's seriously it, Lils. That's it." She said and Lily nodded as she buttoned up her shirt.

"Alright, I believe you. So how was it?"

"What? Running? It's exercise, I hope you know what that's like by now." Dany joked as she dried her hair. Lily shook her head.

"No, I wasn't talking about the run; I want details. That's awfully vague. Did he ask you on a date?" Lily prodded and Dany's face turned red. She was so in love it had stopped being funny sometime between when Kenzie had dumped Sirius and when Brady was put in St. Mungo's. Brady was _still_ in St. Mungo's, actually.

"No, he didn't ask me on a _date_." Dany said as she put her tie on loosely.

"What aren't you telling me?" Lily said

"Nothing, nothing. Really, Lils that's all that happened."

"Did he ask you to go again tomorrow?" She said and Dany's face turned red again and she said nothing. "He did. Is this a thing now? Daily runs with Sirius?" Lily teased and Dany's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Maybe. Okay shut up Lillian, I didn't ask for it to happen." She said as she was obviously trying to get her blushing cheeks under control. Lily started laughing; it seemed like Sirius really had a thing for her friend too. "Are we done now? I'd really like to put my skirt on in peace." Dany said and Lily laughed.

"You know, that's getting a little short, Dan." Lily observed and Dany looked down at the skirt that fell to a little more than halfway down her thighs. Just then Marlene walked out of the bathroom.

"No it's not, Lils. Her legs look great." Marlene said as she toweled her hair. "You should really wear heels more. A pair of wedges would go well." Lily disagreed with that, but that was probably the Prefect side of her talking; objectively, Marlene was right.

"Yeah…I don't know, I just get so sick of heels when I'm at home, you know? Maybe one day when I'm feeling daring." She said lightly.

"Alright, the day Brady comes back, you're wearing heels and you're going to look fabulous and he can go die in a hole." Marlene said and even Lily had to agree with that.

"As your best friend, I endorse this." Lily said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"I don't have anything to prove to him, you guys. I'm not going to make myself into something I'm not for a guy that clearly doesn't care about me. The people worth being around don't care whether or not I'm in heels." Dany said and Lily had to admit that she had a valid point too.

"So what you're saying is that _Sirius_ doesn't care if you're in heels." Alice said as she walked out of the bathroom. Dany threw a pillow at her.

"I said no such thing. I just said that I don't care enough about Brady to change how I look." She argued.

"You have to admit that it'd feel a little good to do the 'I look better without you' thing. You know it would be fun. Come on, admit it." Lily said. Dany consented.

"Alright, it would be fun but still…and I think we're all forgetting that we don't even know when he's coming back from St. Mungo's." Dany pointed out as she put a pair of black flats on.

"If he comes back at all." Lily observed. "His parents might want to homeschool him from here on out."

"Quarter past eight you guys; we better get down to breakfast." Marlene said and the girls started finishing up and getting ready to walk out the door. Bags were double-checked for the right books and wands were accounted for and they all walked downstairs to the common room, headed to the Great Hall and to food. They got there relatively early, before the hall became packed and getting the good food became near impossible. They took seats, talking about less secret topics, like the Transfiguration paper due that day and Gryffindor's Quidditch prospects.

"I'm just saying that we have a chance purely because Hufflepuff physically can't get any worse unless they start sabotaging their own players." Marlene was saying and the other three girls nodded in agreement.

"Not like Ravenclaw has been doing terribly spectacular either, now that you mention it. Seeing that their captain is in the hospital." Alice chimed in. Lily had never been very fascinated with Quidditch so she started to zone out while Dany watched the conversation go back and forth as she drank her coffee.

"Are you ladies talking about Quidditch?" James said suddenly from behind Dany and Lily. They both turned around to see James, Sirius, and Frank. The full moon had been two nights ago and Remus was still laid up in the hospital wing.

"Yeah James, you heard right. Marlene and Alice would be more than happy to hear your input on the topic." Dany said with a quick grin at Lily; Alice and Marlene didn't know what they were in for. James looked excited and sat down next to them, avidly talking about plays and points and strategy. Lily idly wondered where Jessie was. Sirius' girlfriend had been noticeably absent in the past week and as if the universe wanted to answer he question, suddenly Johanna Braden appeared and sat down next to Sirius. Of course he had a new one, that's what sudden absences of girlfriends meant. Dany pointedly turned her back to them and brought her food with her, terminally afraid of spit landing in something that she ate.

"So, Lils have you started the essay for Potions?" She asked casually, trying her best to ignore the couple next to her; annoyance was all over her face. A blind man could have seen that she wasn't happy with what was happening next to her.

"Yeah, I started it. Slughorn wants it to be so _long_ that I don't know what else to add. We should work on it after school today." Lily answered and Dany nodded.

"Please. I haven't got a clue what's happening and I need to do well on the OWL because he only takes an E and above for NEWT level classes." Dany said.

"I might be able to help you a bit…I think a lot of it at this point is just trying to muddle through and do well on the OWLs—well enough to get into the NEWT program and then the real work starts." Lily commented and Dany jumped as Johanna's arm bumped her in the back as Sirius and his new girlfriend continued to make out. Lily felt for her; that couldn't be easy, watching a guy that you liked— _loved_ —snog countless girls for years right in front of you.

Almost a month passed in that way. Dany would come in sweating at about 7:30, the girls would get ready and they would go down to breakfast where Sirius would snog Johanna and Dany would continue to look annoyed all the way up until they went to class and Johanna had to leave with her own house, Ravenclaw. The only thing that changed was Dany's waistline. Running every day was catching up with her and she was noticeably thinner and she looked better than she ever had.

Lily had no idea what kind of running they did but whatever it was, it was brutal; there were some nights where Dany would become so sore that she could barely move and would just lie in bed and complain about her calves. Lily would go swipe some pain-relieving potions from the hospital wing. Stealing was something that she was normally highly opposed to but she had a really hard time seeing her friend in that kind of pain. But even so, Dany continued to get up early and run. She looked healthy, _really_ healthy. It was like everything was really sliding into place for her and Lily didn't think anyone deserved it more.

The strangest part of it was that Dany refused to talk about what exactly was said or done every morning outside of 'jogging' and 'seriously I thought my legs were going to fall off at one point'. Even when Lily would ask about any kind of conversation, Dany would shut down and mumble something unhelpful and vague.

It was a morning like the rest of them that a Fourth Year knocked on their room's door at about 7 to tell them that Brady had decided to come back after all.

* * *

 _I know I said that Brady's gone and he is. His presence is just a push for another event! He doesn't even talk. I swear._

 _I'm also going to address something else you might have noticed: Dany's dad is playing a larger role. It might seem weird that I'm working her father in, but one of the themes for Dany and her brother in Feel Again is living up to their father and mother respectively and I wanted to directly address their relationship. The main function of his presence is to show their relationship and the loving and special dynamic they share instead of you just hearing about it secondhand in Feel Again._

 _By the way, we're about two or three chapters away from *the moment* (you know what I mean)!_


	22. And I'll Never Be Her

_Hi! So, this is a bit of a dramatic chapter and its main purpose is to give Sirius and Dany both a nice kick in the ass because we all (obviously) want them to get together sooner rather than later._ _I also picked the certain...injury I did because it gives Dany a chance to feel and not see Sirius, I suppose you could say, and it really helps contribute to the trust she gives him later on in the fic and into their later lives._

 _Anyways, the big moment is soon approaching-next chapter, I think!_

 _How they get together?_ _Well, let's leave it at the fact they're all spending a lot of time sitting around hospitals these days._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _All alone I watch you watch her_  
 _Like she's the only girl you've ever seen_  
 _You don't care you never did_  
 _You don't give a damn about me_  
 _Yeah all alone I watch you watch her_  
 _She is the only thing you ever see_  
 _How is it you never notice_  
 _That you are slowly killing me_

 _I hate you, I love you,_  
 _I hate that I love you_  
 _Don't want to but I can't put nobody else above you_  
 _I hate you, I love you_  
 _I hate that I want you_  
 _You want her, you need her_  
 _And I'll never be her_

 _~I Hate U I Love U,_ Gnash and Olivia O'Brien

* * *

"All I'm saying is that Slughorn looks like a walrus; you have to admit I'm right." Dany said as she and Sirius walked into the Entrance Hall. Despite the fact it was mid-November, they were both too hot to consider putting clothes back on. Dany had apparently become more comfortable either with him or with her own body because she now ran in shorts and her sports bra, and she currently had her shirt slung over her shoulder. Sirius was still shirtless, hoping that he'd stop sweating sooner rather than later. He had to admit she looked good; even in sweat-soaked running shorts with her ponytail half fallen down and sticking to her back, with no makeup, and her chest squished down as much as possible, she looked good.

The fact he kept dragging her out of bed every morning had been purely selfish; he simply used it as an excuse to talk to her on her own, something that seldom happened in the castle. Sometimes it seemed like even the walls had ears. But it had paid off for her and she had mentioned it in passing one day that she had never felt better and credited all the exercise.

"I'm still sweating like crazy. This is getting ridiculous; it's November for shit's sake." He said and she nodded.

"I think my butt is sweating. Is that even possible?" She said idly as they waited for one of the staircases to change.

"Probably."

"All I know is that I feel gross and can't wait for the damn shower." She said and he tried to push the mental image of her in the shower out of his head.

"Join the club." He said as the staircase finally changed. "Alright, thank you stairs. Let's go before we have to face our entire house like this." He said and not five seconds later, Lily came running down the stairs.

"Lily?" Dany asked blankly. Sirius was immediately worried when he saw the redhead coming down the stairs; Dany had said one day that the girls had no interest in when she returned in the morning as long as she _did_ return.

"Brady's back. Today's his first day back." Dany raised her eyebrows.

"He was stupid enough to come back? I could break his face again and change his mind." Sirius said without thinking. Lily looked apprehensive but said nothing.

"Oh hush, no one's breaking anyone else's face. Again." Dany said quietly to him and then turned her attention back to her best friend. "Why are you telling me this now, Lils? I think it could have waited ten minutes." Lily shook her head.

"No, you need to come with me _now_. Remember what you agreed to about a month ago?" Lily asked and Dany nodded.

"I was being held against my will and was overruled anyways. That was coercion not agreement, Lillian."

"Alright you were reluctant but still. Come on, we need you more than he does right now. You've been with him for the past two hours, what more could you have to say?" She said and started to drag her best friend off. "You'll see her later, Sirius." Lily said as she dragged Dany, who was laughing, up the stairs.

"Okay, bye Sirius!" She called out as Lily continued to relentlessly pull her along. The girls vanished out of sight in moments and he idly wondered what that had been about as he walked back to his own room. Everyone was awake.

"How's everything?" Remus asked and he shrugged.

"Same old." He never really elaborated on what was said or done when he was gone in the mornings with Dany. "Except Lily came hauling ass down the stairs when we were walking in. Brady's back." He said and all movement in the room came to a sudden halt. "I think the girls have something planned. Lily dragged Dany off, saying she agreed to something." He said and James looked unhappy.

"Maybe we should—"

"I already offered and she declined to let us break him in two again. We'll just have to see what they're up to. Dan said she agreed reluctantly and had been overruled so I haven't got a clue what they're doing." Sirius said and walked in to get a shower. By the time he got out of the shower and quickly got dressed, everyone else was ready to go.

"Alright you lot, let's go early; I want to see if he has any residual damage on his face." James chuckled and they all walked down the stairs. When they got to the Great Hall they were all surprised to see that the girls weren't there yet; they almost always beat them down to breakfast. He saw Brady over at his own house's table. He looked like Sirius remembered him, if not a little on edge. Apparently they hadn't managed to mutilate him for life, sadly.

"They're not here; that's weird." Remus commented and they all sat down where they usually sat.

"That's _very_ weird." Frank agreed. Johanna sat down next to Sirius and she didn't look terribly happy but she was still happy enough to start snogging him. Suddenly James dropped his fork with a loud clatter onto his plate.

" _What the hell_ did they do to my little Godsister?" James asked, not really outraged but more like he seriously didn't know what they had done to her. Sirius looked up from snogging Johanna and followed his line of vision towards the entrance to the Great Hall.

Sure enough, Dany had just walked in with the rest of the girls. He had to admit that she looked phenomenal. The girls had apparently convinced her to put on heels to pair with the school skirt. Sirius was wondering how exactly her legs could be so long despite her 5 foot 2 height. Her shirt was the same as it always was with the sleeves rolled up, a few buttons undone, tie loose. Her hair was the same too, long and wavy and snow-white. Lily had apparently coerced her into makeup though because her face looked different; it was very pretty, but also very different.

"I'm not really sure but I'm going to take a guess and say that this is what Lily meant when she said that she promised to do something." Remus said and the rest of the guys nodded. The girls sat down and sure enough, Dany was complaining.

"Lily, I feel like an idiot. Seriously let me go back and take this crap off my face and put normal shoes on." She asked her friend.

"No, absolutely not. You look great and your ex is eating his heart out over there. Lots of girls wear heels to class and you have to admit that you like being taller than you usually are." Lily argued back.

"I feel weird is all I'm saying." She said and Sirius absently wondered when her chest had gotten that big. Maybe he was just used to the compression bras.

"You look fantastic, right James?" Lily said and Dany shook her head.

"Be honest James Potter or so help me I'm going to kick your ass." Dany said and James nodded.

"Yeah you look really good but now I'm worried about all of the staring guys. Thanks Lily, give me something else to worry about, why don't you?" he said and Lily looked at her friend as if to say 'I told you so'. Dany rolled her eyes but said nothing more on the topic. Breakfast passed as normal after that eventually the girls and Remus stood up to leave because the girls had Muggle Studies and Remus had Ancient Runes. They bid the rest of the group goodbye and left. James, Frank, and Peter all cleared out pretty quickly after that and Sirius was left with Johanna, who he could have sworn was blonder than she was a week ago. They also left but walked towards Ravenclaw tower instead of Gryffindor.

"I saw you walking back in to the castle this morning with her." Johanna said suddenly and Sirius didn't see the significance of this.

"Yeah, so? You know that I run in the morning." He said and she stopped walking.

"You didn't say that you ran shirtless, with a girl no less, let alone _her_." Johanna said and Sirius was rather taken aback.

"I didn't see the importance of that but next time I do something that involves the female gender, I'll let you know." He said warily. This wasn't a fight he wanted to have right now. He was sick of fighting with his girlfriends over the same thing.

"You didn't see the importance of mentioning that there's a girl that sees you shirtless more than your _girlfriend_? Besides, it's not exactly like she's completely clothed either." Johanna said pointedly and Sirius realized how bad that had probably looked. They had come back into the castle before the Sun was fully up half-clothed, sweating, and laughing.

"Look, I'm sorry that you don't like it but she's my friend and I don't bail on my friends; that's the way it is." He said and she looked like she didn't know what to make of that.

"I know…I just get jealous sometimes is all. I mean I know you're just friends but it still bothers me to see you with other girls." She said and Sirius nodded, dearly hoping she'd let it drop and they could just go back to her dorm for their free period. "I saw how you looked at her when she walked into the Great Hall today." Damn.

"Yeah, like every other person in that room…I have eyes, Johanna; I don't think I was breaking some rule of conduct by looking at a girl, who I happen to be good friends with, that looked completely different." He said. This was a tired argument; of course it wasn't to her but it was the ninth time he'd had it.

"Oh please, there was _nothing_ platonic in that. You were undressing her with your eyes. And why shouldn't you? She's a beautiful girl, she's powerful, pretty, smart, and fucking perfect." Johanna snapped. Sirius was taken aback but also disagreed; she wasn't perfect. No one was perfect and she certainly wasn't. He remembered the way she had completely ungracefully fallen apart when her dad had been in the hospital and how she had admitted to him that she was scared and how she had been devastated by Brady's cheating and was an incredibly sloppy drunk. Not to mention that the girl was an ugly crier and had anger that was bordering on vengeful. She wasn't perfect at all. She was very imperfectly human.

"Johanna, I really think you're reading too much into this. I've known her since we were eleven; she was still practically in pigtails when we became friends. It's just weird when all of a sudden you notice that puberty happened. I forget sometimes that she looks the way she does and when something changes, it catches me off guard. Just let it go. Please."

"No, I'm not letting it go, Sirius. You need to make up your mind with her; either it's me or it's her. Take your pick." She said, looking like she knew exactly what he was going to pick.

"Bye, Johanna." He said quietly and walked away.

* * *

James was surprised to see Sirius walk into the common room so soon. He usually bothered to take more time than _that_. He thanked his lucky stars that the room was empty except for him, everyone else either still sleeping or in class.

"What? Did you only last thirty seconds or something?" He joked and Sirius waved a hand and lay down on the carpet in front of the fireplace, fixing his eyes on the ceiling, arms behind his head.

"No, we didn't even make it that far, tragically. She could have at least waited until after to argue." He said and James knew what this was; this was the 'pick Dany or me' argument and every single time he picked the same thing. They really should have smartened up by now or something seeing that he had gone through nine girlfriends.

"Another one bites the dust?" James asked and Sirius nodded.

"Another one bites the dust. Man, I don't know what I'm doing; I can't deal with these girls anymore. They're driving me crazy and every fucking time, it's the same thing." He said still lying down.

"Mate, you _do_ realize that they're all breaking up with you over the same thing? Maybe that should tell you something. Like the fact you love my Godsister." James said pointedly and Sirius looked over at him, breaking his deadlock stare with the ceiling.

"James…you know how awkward this always ends up, can we not talk about my feelings right now?" He asked and James shook his head.

"No, we're talking about it. This is getting ridiculous and you know it. And don't get me wrong, I don't like talking about feelings extensively either but this needs to be said." James said and Sirius raised an eyebrow in surprise. James usually ducked out of conversations like this one as soon as he could.

"Alright, so what is it that needs to be said?" Sirius asked, sitting up.

"You love her, don't you? Don't give me some sidestep bullshit answer, just a yes or a no." James said and Sirius said nothing. James waited, and he waited. Anything that took this much deliberation was a yes but he wanted to hear it.

"Yeah, I love her." He finally said and James wanted to cry with relief. He had finally gotten his answer to the three-year question. Everyone would be thrilled to hear about the development. "I don't know when it happened either. Like one second she was a friend, your Godsister, and the next second she's just _not_. I don't know what happened; it was like she was in sneakers and her brother's clothes and then all of a sudden she wasn't." He said and shook his head.

"Why her?" James asked and he shrugged. "Seriously out of all the girls in this school, why was she the one to really get to you? Dany's a beautiful girl, anyone can see that, but you've been with a lot of beautiful girls. What is it?"

"I don't know…everything I guess? I mean she's not like them, you know that; hell you've said it plenty of times yourself. I think near the root of it is that I admire and respect her—not a lot of people could carry the weight of that last name as well as she does." He said and James nodded. It was a good answer. He couldn't imagine having the weight of an entire people on his shoulders. But she carried it, she held the weight and she did it as gracefully as she could, trying to be normal but also having to try to be the perfect daughter when the press was around. James thought he would have lost faith in humanity a long time ago if he were her.

"Look, I'm just saying that they're all dumping you for the exact same reason. I think there might be some truth in it and I would consider it to be a sign from the universe that maybe you should act on it." James said and Sirius shook his head.

"There's no point…she doesn't feel the same way, she has no reason to. You know what she wants out of life and there's no way that I can ever give her that. She needs to find some nice, wholesome guy who doesn't have so much emotional baggage." James threw a nearby magazine at him and Sirius jumped when it hit him in the face. Like that, the emotional talk vanished.

That didn't stop Sirius from dumping Mattie Belmonte that day.

* * *

With the intense cold setting in with the New Year, Dany and Sirius had taken to running in the Room of Requirement, simply asking for a track or trail or whatever it could come up with.

"How have the visions been?" Sirius asked as they were taking a break. Dany looked over, surprised.

"Okay—mostly confusing, honestly. I don't know what any of it means…I see things that would make me happy—if I knew more about them." She admitted.

"Yeah?" She nodded.

"Yeah, like when you were in the hospital wing after you took that bludger to your head, I had a vision where I was pregnant. The drawing was of me with a baby bump." She said, absently putting her hand on her own very flat stomach. "It was weird. But I just looked so _happy_ , I just want to know who the guy is."

"You can join the club. Honestly, we're _all_ sitting around waiting for you to see a face on this bloke. James wants to know who he should be beating up in advance." Sirius said and Dany laughed, rolling her eyes.

"James _would_ …hopefully I upgrade from Brady." She sighed, closing her eyes.

"You couldn't _down_ grade unless you started dating one of my relatives, so I think you're mostly in the clear." She laughed, eyes still closed.

"I'll keep that in mind. I somehow doubt that any of them would be very interested in me. I'm a disgrace to the Wizarding World, remember?" She said and Sirius had to give her that: his relatives wouldn't tolerate her beliefs. "Come on, we should probably start heading back to the common room—I need to talk to Professor Slughorn before classes start and can't exactly go to his office like this." She motioned to herself and Sirius shrugged, relatively immune to the way she looked when they ran. "You might not care, but I doubt Sluggy feels the same."

* * *

"Sirius!" Sirius looked up from where he was walking out of the bathroom, clothed—he was running late so the other guys had left without him. Lily had just barged into his room. There were tear tracks on her face. What the hell?

"Lily? Is everything okay?" He asked. She shook her head.

"It's Dany…she was by herself, she went to go talk to Professor Slughorn about something and none of us had seen her since. Someone found her in the dungeons…she—they think she was attacked by a group of Slytherins. She says she doesn't know who did it." Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Is she okay?" He asked and Lily shook her head and started crying severely. Sirius hugged her carefully—she hugged him back tightly. Lily was a sweet girl and she didn't deserve to cry, scared and on her own. "Lily, what happened?" He asked her and she sniffed a little before answering.

"It's her eyes. She can't see." She said quietly and Sirius felt his stomach drop.

"What do you mean 'she can't see'? She's _blind_?" He asked and she nodded through her tears.

"Yeah…Pomfrey's looking for something to fix it but for now, she's blind." She said and started sobbing again. "I came to get you; I thought she'd like to hear a voice that wasn't talking about transferring her to St. Mungo's or how it might be irreversible." She said. "It's horrible. They have her eyes bandaged up so she doesn't strain to try and see. I'd stay myself but I can only take it for so long." Sirius nodded.

"She's in the Hospital Wing?" Lily nodded. "I'll head down. Go get some sleep, Lily." He said and she nodded before shuffling out the door, presumably to her room to go cry some more. Sirius went down to the Hospital Wing and paused. This was going to be heartbreaking. He opened the doors and no one was there except for Dany sitting in a bed at the other end of the ward. He walked over and saw what Lily meant. They had her eyes covered by a bandage that wrapped around the back of her head. She was sitting up and had her knees tucked into her chest.

"Lily?" She asked quietly. He walked closer and she didn't seem to like the fact he didn't answer her, but he didn't particularly care to be caught by Madam Pomfrey and getting kicked out wouldn't be of any use to her or anyone else so he didn't respond. "You're not Lily; you walk differently. Who the hell are you? Only the professors and Pomfrey are allowed in." She said and it really hit home that she couldn't see and she really had no idea who he was. He sat down on the edge of her bed and she seemed annoyed. "Are you mute, mystery man? Or do you not want to be caught harassing the blind girl?" She asked and reached a hand out, quite obviously going for his face. It was the only way she could find out who he was if he remained silent. She came into contact with his neck first and moved her hand up to his face. She started feeling all over his face, first his jaw and then his mouth. Suddenly she relaxed and smiled a little. "Hi, Sirius." She said and he raised an eyebrow. She had guessed from half of his face.

"Impressive. Sorry I didn't say anything but I have a feeling Pomfrey is looking for anything that breathes too loud." He said quietly and she nodded in agreement. "How did you know I was a guy?" He asked and she shrugged.

"You walk like a man." She said and he nodded before he realized that she couldn't see that. "Lily told you?"

"Yeah, she told me; she said that she thought you would want to hear a familiar voice." He said and she smiled.

"Lily's a good friend. This must be really weird for you." She said.

"Yeah, it's pretty weird. Does Pomfrey think it's reversible?"

"I don't know. Whatever did it was magic because I still have my eyeballs in my head. Or so I hear." She said rather bitterly and Sirius had to admit that seeing her, someone who was usually so excited—full of life—blind was heartbreaking.

"Has someone told your family?" He asked and she nodded.

"Dumbledore Flooed over to tell them. I don't know when they're going to be here though. Dad and Rae are so busy with the war and they've been in trials all week nonstop and Mom's busy keeping the press at bay. It's not their fault that they can't drop everything." She said softly. He couldn't really think of anything to say to that and she ran a hand over his face, apparently trying to figure out what was going on. She suddenly pulled her hand back like it had been scalded. "Are you crying?" She asked him suddenly. He looked at her hands and realized that her hand was wet.

"Oh yeah apparently, sorry." He said and she smiled a little.

"No, no it's fine. I'm glad someone isn't trying to pretend that everything's going to be okay. Everyone's so sure that it can be fixed, but it might _not_ be reversible and no one is willing to admit it. Thank you for not trying to fake it." She said.

"Dan, you're going to be able to see again okay? We're going to find a way if Pomfrey can't. There's spells that Healers don't know and fixes that are so old that they've been forgotten; there's something somewhere that can give you your eyesight back." She smiled again; it was weird to see her smile without her eyes.

"If you insist. I'm sure the famous Marauders will think of something." She said wryly and even though she was hurt and had recently lost one of her main senses, she was still herself.

"I'm sure we will…Dan, if you don't want to talk about it I get that, but who did this?" He asked and she shook her head.

"I don't know. I didn't see who it was, but there was more than one of them…I think they were going to kill me, honestly. I think they were going to kill me but they wanted to play with their food before they ate it." She said.

"Dan, I'm going to touch you now so don't freak." He said and she nodded before her put an arm around her and she leaned into his shoulder; it was a comfortable and familiar position. "Not to bring it up, but why _didn't_ they kill you?" He asked and she didn't answer him immediately.

"Because your brother stepped in." Sirius felt his mouth drop open. "I think he walked in right after I was hexed because I saw him for a second when my vision was going. He was really pissed and was yelling; told them that they were signing off on their own deaths by hurting me and that was it." She said.

"Seriously?" She nodded.

"Yeah, seriously. He picked me up and took me to Slughorn. As soon as he knocked though, I think he ran off; I heard some pretty quick footsteps and Slughorn clearly only saw me." She said and Sirius had the urge to go find his brother and kiss him. "You should give him a break, Sirius. He really cares about you." She said softly.

"Dan, one good thing doesn't mean—"

"You don't honestly think that he cares enough about me to go against his house, do you? No, he helped me because I'm friends with you. This was for you, not for me."

"Okay, Regulus is a prick but even he knows when it's time to draw a line. It's a lesson Alphard tried to instill in us _both_." He said and she shook her head.

"You can't _not_ look up to your older brother. I would know. He didn't do this for me." She said and he nodded. Suddenly a light turned on from in Madam Pomfrey's office and someone started moving around, loud enough to be heard by both of them. "Shit, you need to go before you join me in here because Madam Pomfrey will actually crucify you." She said and he got up, looking back at his blind friend once more before running out of the door. He paused a corridor away from the Hospital Wing and walked down to a pretty unfamiliar part of the castle. It was a part of the castle he _should_ have known the same way he knew Gryffindor tower. He caught a First Year that was on her way into the Slytherin common room.

"Hey, can you go get someone for me?" He asked and hoped that such a young kid wouldn't be terrified of him or hate him purely for existing. The girl seemed intimidated. "Look, I just need to talk to my brother real quick is all. No one's going to get hurt or in trouble, okay?" He said and she nodded.

"Who's your brother?" She asked and she reminded him of Andy. She had a similar sweet demeanor that took him by surprise.

"Regulus Black." He said and her eyes widened.

"You're Sirius Black?" She asked and he nodded. "We're not supposed to talk to you." She said warily and he wanted to smack his head into a wall. Then he remembered that he wasn't disowned; no matter how much his family hated him, he was still technically heir to the family name. He really didn't want to pull that card on a twelve-year-old so he tried one more time.

"Look, I just need to talk to my brother. You don't even have to talk to me, only him; I'm sure he's more than respectable." He said and she hesitated again before nodding. Regulus came out a moment later.

"I'm assuming there's a reason you're here?" He asked and Sirius looked around before nodding towards an empty hallway. The brothers walked down the hallway and Sirius turned around to face his younger sibling.

"I just came from seeing Dany. She told me what you did for her." He said and he raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know it was me and not someone else?" He asked, clearly trying to blow his brother off.

"Because she saw you walk up; her vision wasn't completely out yet. Not to mention that her ears are still functioning." He said and Regulus immediately froze.

"What do you want?" He asked and Sirius shrugged.

"You wouldn't happen to know the curse that was used?" His brother shook his head. "What about the people?"

"They were a couple of idiot Third Years that thought they could show off by killing the Minister's daughter. They won't be a problem again." He said shortly. "I'm surprised that Masters let a couple of kids take her down." He added on and Sirius realized that he had a point.

"Yeah, but then again, she probably wasn't planning on having to fight blind." He said. "Why aren't they going to be a problem again?" His brother shrugged.

"Because I put the fear of God into them. It really wasn't that difficult; they're from new families so as soon as someone raises their voice, they freak out." He said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Daniel and Rhea are pissed; they're going to be out for blood." He said.

"I'm not surprised at all. Well, if that's it…" Regulus trailed off.

"Actually, one more thing." His brother raised an eyebrow. "What you did for her…thank you. I don't know why you helped her, but you did. So thank you." He said and walked by his brother.

"Sirius?" Sirius was shocked that his brother bothered to use his name. It was mainly taboo in their household. He turned around. "I can probably squeeze the spell out of those kids. I have no idea if it's reversible but it's worth a shot. Masters is a lot of things, but she doesn't deserve to go blind because she was audacious enough to exist." He said and Sirius smiled at his brother.

"Thanks, Reg."

"It's Regulus!" He yelled down the hallway as Sirius turned a corner. Even now, his brother was still pissed off by the nickname.

* * *

James was worried sick over Dany and he certainly wasn't alone. Soon, the entire school knew and there had been such an outpouring of love and support for her and all of her friends that it never really ceased to amaze James. He and Sirius spent a lot of time with her in the Hospital Wing. Lily had willingly agreed to go to class and do their homework for them so they could sit with Dany. It mainly consisted of James and Dany telling stories from their childhoods and Sirius outing James on some of the shit he does when the girls aren't around.

Dany was laying with her head in James' lap and her feet in Sirius'.

"James is just sooo smitten with poor Lily. I think it might be time to think about a restraining order." She said seriously and James rolled his eyes.

"Ha-ha you guys. So funny." He said dryly and Dany started laughing. "I'm going to grab something from the Kitchens; you all want something?" Dany shook her head.

"Yeah, I want a sandwich." Sirius said and James nodded.

"Come on, Dan you need to let me up. Lay on Sirius if you need someone to put your head on." He said and helped her sit up and turn around before lying down on top of Sirius.

"Nice of you to offer me up, Prongs." Sirius said and James stuck his tongue out at him. Sirius' voice might have sounded joking and lighthearted but the way he looked at Dany, something she couldn't see, wasn't very joking or lighthearted. He looked like someone was slowly pulling his intestines out through his navel.

"No problem. I'm heading out so I'll be back in a bit." He said and Sirius nodded.

"Bye, James." Dany said. He walked out of the Hospital Wing and was walking back out of the Kitchens, towards the Hospital Wing, with Sirius' sandwich in hand.

"Oi, Potter." Someone said.

"Sirius Black, you did _not_ leave her alone." James said before turning around.

"Please, like my brother would leave her anywhere she could be hurt in any capacity. I know he's staying with her at night when everyone else leaves the Hospital Wing." Regulus Black said. James felt his jaw drop. Since when did Regulus speak to his brother's friends? Since when did Regulus speak to his _brother_?

"Not to be rude, but what do you want?" He asked cagily.

"I was going to ask where my brother is, but it seems that you've just told me. Look, I know what you're thinking and I have no desire to hurt your Godsister or my brother or any of your friends, okay?" He said and James nodded. God, he looked like Sirius except much, _much_ more controlled. They walked back to the Hospital Wing and got some pretty weird stares in return. Before they were remotely close to the door, James heard laughter bouncing off of the walls.

"Oh, no way. He was a bed wetter?" Dany was gasping through her laughter.

"I'm telling you that Lucius peed in his sleep right up until he was thirteen." Sirius was saying, his voice drifting out of the doors. Dany continued to laugh. Like this, just out of sight, she seemed normal—healthy even. James poked his head in the door and they were how he had left them. Dany was lying on her back with her head in Sirius' lap, her hair all over his legs and the bed. The only difference was that now she was laughing.

"Okay you need to stop because I'm going to start crying I'm laughing so hard and you have no idea how weird it is to cry and be blind." She laughed.

"He peed when he was bunking with my brother once." Sirius idly said and Dany continued to laugh so hard James was quite concerned that she was going to break something. Suddenly, she snorted and put a hand over her face.

"Every damn time. Thank you very much for that." She said and James raised an eyebrow. He had never heard her snort in his entire life.

"You're so welcome, really it's my pleasure." Sirius said and looked up. "Hey mate, please tell me that you brought food. I'm starved." He said.

"James is here?"

"Yeah, he's here…and he brought food!" Sirius said.

"Don't you dare drop food onto my face, Sirius." Dany said and James laughed briefly before Regulus walked into the room.

"Regulus?" Sirius said blankly, but also like he was oddly glad to see his brother. "What are you doing here?" He asked and the younger Black shrugged.

"That bit about Lucius is true, just by the way. It was revolting." He said dryly and Dany continued to laugh in Sirius' lap.

"You two sound so bloody alike it's scary." She said and continued to laugh. "He really wet the bed?"

"Tragically. Abraxas was…unhappy with his heir, to put it mildly." Regulus said. "I have something you're going to like." He said and James didn't miss how Regulus' eyes flickered to Dany so quickly James wondered if he was just imagining things. "Actually it's something that you're all going to like. I'd suggest someone going to get Madam Pomfrey." Dany sat up, freeing Sirius, who made sure she didn't take a spill off the edge of the bed. The older brother nodded and walked off, to get the matron. James sat down next to Dany.

"Hey Dan." He said and she smiled.

"Hi, James. Do we know why he's here?" She whispered.

"Nope. Said he was looking for Sirius." James responded.

"The day of your…accident, my brother found me and asked me to poke around for the spell that did, well, this." Regulus said and Dany looked surprised, even with part of her face covered.

"Damn, he went to the blood family. That's friendship that can't be bought." James said. Dany nodded.

"About that, Regulus I never got to thank you for not letting a group of lunatics kill me, so thanks for that." She said quietly and Regulus nodded.

"They're blithering idiots anyways." James raised an eyebrow, just as Sirius came back out with Madam Pomfrey. Sirius sat down on Dany's other side.

"The only reason I ever have both Blacks in this ward is if you've attempted to break each other into two on the Pitch; may I ask why you're here, Regulus?"

"It's a long story, but it's about the spell that took her eyesight." He said and Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow.

"What about it?" She said.

"I know what it is and I know why you couldn't find it." He said.

"Seriously?" James asked. Sirius looked encouraged and even Dany seemed hopeful. Regulus nodded.

"Hold on before you get your panties in a wad, Potter." He said and Dany obviously lost any kind of hope. "It's an old spell and it's dark. It's too old and dark for most people to find." He said. James glanced at Sirius, who looked worried.

"How did you find out what it was?" He asked slowly. Regulus shrugged.

"I wrote Mother and Father. They were more than obliging to send the…appropriate literature." He said and Sirius immediately tensed.

"Regulus, what have you done?" Sirius asked his brother slowly and loudly.

"Sirius, calm down. It's okay." James heard Dany say quietly.

"Relax—they don't know anything about her. The cavalry isn't coming to kidnap your friend." He said with a knowing smirk. It wasn't hard to see where Regulus had picked up his mannerisms.

"Can it be fixed?" James asked. Regulus nodded.

"It can be, but there's a price to pay."

"There always is with this kind of magic. How bad is it?" Dany asked softly.

"Well, it's not what I'd call good. And there's more: not everyone can perform it. Anyone can perform the curse, it's pretty standard actually, but undoing it is much harder. It requires the old blood. It's elemental." Regulus said.

"So what you're saying is that we need someone who is powerful enough to perform the spell, is willing to pay the price, and carries enough of the old blood?" James asked blandly and he nodded. "What's the price?" Regulus said nothing.

"Regulus. Answer the question." Sirius said and James raised an eyebrow. That was clearly not a friendly request but it wasn't cruel either. He sounded—frankly—like an older brother. The siblings stared at each other and it was very obvious that Sirius would walk over there and force the spell out of his brother.

"You don't die. Usually. It leaves a nasty scar though." James rolled his eyes.

"We get it, it's bad; now what's the cost of doing the spell?"

"Now we know why he wasn't placed in Ravenclaw." Regulus said idly. Sirius silenced him with a look.

"He just told you, James. It literally leaves a scar." Dany said and Regulus nodded, something she couldn't see. "A nasty scar and enough pain to be the cause."

"At least someone here is well-read." He said. "And in case you're curious, you don't have the blood for it, Potter; believe me, I checked because it doesn't take a seer to know that you'd be the first one to offer. You come from a long line of Purebloods but you all have married one too many Muggleborns." He said and James felt his stomach sink. "I checked McKinnon and Prewett too; they can't and we all know that Evans isn't a Pureblood, nothing against her. Lupin and Longbottom don't check out either." He said and James was staring at him.

"That's great. Now who _can_ that would even remotely consider it?" James asked impatiently. Regulus pointedly looked at his brother. Of course it had to be Sirius and of course Sirius would do it. Because why the hell not?

"Her father or brother could also, but there's no way that either of them would be allowed to take that sort of risk with the…state of things. They'd both be physically restrained by more Aurors than I have fingers." Regulus said. Dany didn't need to see what was happening to know exactly what was happening.

"Absolutely not." She said bluntly. Everyone looked at her.

"Dan—"

"I don't want to hear it, Sirius. You're not going to maim yourself for me." She said and Madam Pomfrey, whom they had all quite forgotten was there, interfered.

"She's right; I can't have students risking their lives in my ward at all, let alone on the word of another student." She said and Regulus nodded.

"I thought as much, but I said I'd deliver, didn't I?" He said to his brother before handing him a piece of parchment and walking out.

"Thank you?" Sirius said as if he wasn't really sure if he should be glad or not. "Dany, I really think that you should consider—"

"I'm not going to let you permanently damage yourself because of me."

"I'm going to retrieve the Headmaster and your Head of House." She said and walked into her office quickly.

"I think I'm going to wait outside for Pomfrey to come back…this is something you two need to talk about." He said and they both nodded. "Sirius Black, don't do anything against her will." He added on and Sirius nodded again. He stepped outside and hoped Pomfrey returned with Dumbledore quickly.

* * *

Dany had been blind for a week now and she actually was getting used to it.

"Please let me do this." It was Sirius, she had heard James leave and there was no way that Sirius would even consider speaking with any form of vulnerability with any of his mates around. She shook her head.

"No. I can live like this, I really can. It's been a week and it doesn't seem so weird anymore. You don't need to go through all of that unneeded pain for me." She said. It was true; she could survive this way but the payback from some of those curses…they were terrible. They could get you killed or worse.

"Dan, you can't live without your eyes. I could fix this and you're asking me _not_ to." He said. Sure, she wanted her vision back more than anyone did, but he didn't seem to see her rationale. At least this way they would both bloody live.

"I'm asking you to put yourself first for once." She said quietly and a deafening silence fell. Suddenly the doors to the Hospital Wing creaked opened.

"Miss Danilynn, Mr. Black. Madam Pomfrey came and got Professor McGonagall and I as soon as she could." It was Dumbledore. "Ah, yes it appears that Mr. Potter has decided to leave in search of your other friends. Now, what is going on? Poppy gave us a summary but I'd like to hear this for myself."

"There's a way to regain her sight." Sirius said.

"Sirius, enough." He ignored her.

"But it's an old spell and requires the caster to have a significant percent of the old blood. And it exacts a price, which is the part that she's highly opposed to."

"You're the only one who could perform it that is willing to." Dumbledore.

"Black, as admirable as that is, we cannot let students inflict harm upon themselves." McGonagall. "It's tragic, what has happened to Miss Masters, but we cannot permit you to do such a thing."

"What if it was planned and done right here and everything was controlled? Hell, what about St. Mungo's? Michelle can handle almost anything; she saved Daniel's life summer before last. If someone thought it was safe to trust her with the _Minister of Magic_ , I'm pretty low stakes. Comparatively, I'm expendable." He said.

"You're _not_ expendable." Dany interjected.

"Compared to your father, I'm a drop in the bucket of the Wizarding World."

"How do you know about the attempt on the Minister's life? That was a well-guarded secret." McGonagall.

"It's a long story but suffice to say that I know."

"Poppy, do you have anything on hand that would allow for the alleviation of pain on that scale?" Dumbledore asked. "Miss Masters, she's nodding." Great.

"I just don't know what would happen to him physically." Madam Pomfrey.

"You're not seriously considering this, are you? This is insane. I don't give consent, if that means anything." Dany said.

"I agree with you, Masters." McGonagall.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Dan, this would be a joint decision which means you have a say, but so do I." Sirius said to her quietly. She still thought it was a bad idea. "Hey, I've been hurt for way less than giving someone her eyesight back." She shook her head a little. This was the Sirius Black 'I've almost died before so bring it on' attitude.

"Sirius…I don't think that this is a good idea." She said quietly and Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"We'll be down at the other end of the ward." He said and they all shuffled away from them.

"Why are you so set on this?" She asked quietly and kept her hand on his face.

"Because it's what's right. Please let me help you. I'll never forgive myself if I don't." He said and finally she nodded.

"I—ugh, okay. If you're sure." She said and she felt him smile under her hand. He really was one to jump out of the fire and into the frying pan.

"I'm sure. I'll go get Dumbledore and Pomfrey." This was such a mistake.

* * *

It took three days for Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Sirius, and Dany to all come to an agreement on how exactly this should be done. Sirius personally wanted it done as fast as possible and Dany seemed like she didn't really want to do it at all. McGonagall and Pomfrey were more with Dany and Dumbledore was thinking more like Sirius was. He was becoming very popular very quickly with Lily, Marlene, and Alice at this rate.

They were all waiting for the word that Dany had given her final consent and that Madam Pomfrey was finally prepared for the copious amounts of pain he'd be going through. McGonagall walked into the common room one day and everyone immediately fell silent. She was _never_ in the common room.

"Black, come with me." She said and Sirius got up to follow her. James stopped him and slapped him on the back. All three girls hugged him tightly and whispered 'thank you'. Remus and Frank both clapped him on the back as well. He followed McGonagall out of the tower.

"Do her parents know about this?" He asked as they walked to the doors of the Hospital Wing.

"Daniel and Rhea know. Rhaegar does not." She said as she opened the doors. Dany was sitting up and looked like she always did these days; she didn't seem as emotional without her eyes that always seemed to be laughing at something or another. She seemed like she wasn't quite with it, with her eyes bandaged over.

"Professor. Mr. Black." Madam Pomfrey said. "Minerva, I can take it from here." She said and McGonagall nodded at him before leaving. "Now, Sirius I must ask one more time if you're sure about this. Danilynn has—begrudgingly I must admit—given her consent and now I must ask for yours." She said and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Let's get started." He said and realized that he was fucking petrified.

Shit, maybe he _didn't_ want to do this.

"Come with me then." She said. They walked over to where Dany was sitting.

"Sirius, you're a bloody idiot for doing this." She said bluntly. "You don't need to do this. No hard feelings if you back out; I'm still mildly opposed to this." She said and Madam Pomfrey started to undo the bandages on her eyes.

"Don't worry about it Dan." He said and she smiled a little.

"It's going to feel quite weird having this off, Danilynn." Madam Pomfrey said and pulled the bandages off. Nope, he definitely wanted to do this. Her laughing eyes were gone; they were empty and cloudy. "Whenever you're ready, dear." She said to him. He read the parchment Regulus had given him and cast the spell.

...

And then he was in one of the boats that took the First Years up to Hogwarts. The boat was still roped to the dock, waiting to go to the castle. This definitely _hadn't_ happened last time his parents had tried to kill him.

"Hello, Sirius." A soft voice said from next to him on the bench of the rowboat.

"Dany?" He asked warily and she nodded with a smile. She looked healthy and how she _should_ look, not the blind girl that he had just seen. "What's going on?" He asked her and she looked around. "Why are we in the Black Lake?"

"Yes, it _does_ appear that we're in the Black Lake, doesn't it? Do you know why we're here?" She asked him.

"I'm dying."

"You're dying." She said softly and looked at him sadly.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't I just be, well, dead?" He asked and she smiled.

"Nothing's that simple, I'm afraid. Life is a series of choices and so is death." He noticed she was in her school uniform, which was a very random outfit choice.

"So I'm _not_ dead?" He clarified and she nodded.

"That choice still has to be made." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"I can go back?" She nodded.

"You can go back. Or you can choose to…I think 'go on' is a good term for it." She said. "The boat will take you there."

"Where exactly would the boat be taking me?" She laughed.

"That would be spoiling the surprise. Only those who have already made up their minds get to know so I couldn't answer that even if I wanted to." She said.

"So if I'm here, where's my body?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Back where you left it, in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts."

"But Dany—um, you have your sight back." She nodded but smiled.

"I'm not your friend, Sirius. I'm a part of you—you just chose to see me in this way. But yes, Danilynn Masters is slowly regaining her sight as we speak." She said and Sirius thought it was weird that he had picked Dany of all people.

"So if I die, she'll still be fine?" She nodded with a small smile.

"She'll keep her eyesight, if that's what you mean." She said and crossed her ankles daintily. That was enough to give away that it wasn't actually Dany. She acted like the lady she was raised to be, but that simple movement was too delicate and formal for her liking.

"But she'll hold herself responsible for me dying." She nodded.

"She will carry your death with her for the rest of her life and she will never be able forgive herself."

"And James…"

"James will be devastated." She said simply.

"And if I go back, I'll have to deal with the lasting effects of the spell." She nodded once more.

"You will."

"And there'll be a lot of pain."

"There will be."

"And I'm assuming there's a scar."

"On your back." She said, "It's quite large."

"But I'll live?" She nodded. "Can you answer something?" She smiled a little.

"That depends on what you ask me."

"Out of everyone I know, why her? Why do you look like her?" He asked and she thought for a moment.

"Perhaps you wanted to see what's worth dying for one more time, in case you _do_ decide to go on."

"What the hell? Send me back." He said and she smiled and touched his face.

"If that's what you want. We'll meet again one day." She said softly before kissing him on the forehead.

Holy shit everything hurt. Sirius gasped and felt the pain of the spell smash into him and then everything slipped away into completely senseless pain.

"What the hell?" He looked around. Everything is too bright. Too fucking bright. He squinted and looked around the room. The Hospital Wing. The spell. Dany's eyesight. The part of him that looked like Dany. Madam Pomfrey looked up.

"Oh my. Sir Nicholas!" She said and the ghost appeared. She said something to him and he nodded and vanished. "Sirius Black you should be dead. You _were_ dead. Now we're going to sit you up very slowly and I'm going to take a look at your vitals and your back." She said and he nodded as she tapped his forehead with her wand. It reminded Sirius of the Dany he had spoken to on the boat; she had kissed him on the exact same spot. "Well that's mostly positive." She sat him up and turned him around. "And this doesn't look horrid. It's going to leave one hell of a scar but you knew that." He nodded, as she probed it. "Does that hurt?" He shook his head.

"Um, Madam Pomfrey how long have I been out?"

"Today is day two." She said and he nodded. That was on par with what he had expected. "You're a very lucky man. Not very many people get to see beyond the veil and come back to talk about it." She said just as the doors slammed open. He jumped and looked over. It was James, Remus, and Frank.

"Padfoot!" James said and ran over, grinning before he hugged him, careful on his back.

"Hey James."

"Shit, it's good to see you awake." Remus said and Sirius nodded.

"You look bloody awful." James said.

"Still hotter than you, Potter." He said automatically and James laughed. Madam Pomfrey seemed amused but clucked her tongue.

"You boys can have him in a bit, but I do believe that someone else needs to say hello." She said and nodded towards the door. They all looked up and Dany was in the doorway. His three friends nodded and walked out, saying hello to her as they walked by, closing the door behind them. Madam Pomfrey walked off, clearly trying to be inconspicuous. She didn't move for a second and he smiled tiredly at her and she ran over and hugged him tightly.

"Hi." She said quietly and she didn't release him. He put his arms around her.

"Hi, Dan." He said quietly and she let go of him after another second. She was crying as she smiled, but she had her laughing eyes back. It had bloody worked.

"You're such an idiot." She said and he laughed.

"Maybe. But you can't say that you're not glad I did it." He said and she smiled a little more and wiped her eyes.

"Alright, but it was still stupid. It was stupid…but it was also incredibly brave and selfless. Thank you." She said softly and sat down on the edge of his bed, near his knees. "I don't think I can outdo James' reunion; that was pretty intense. A full-blown hug between two guys is something to be cherished." She said seriously. He laughed and shrugged.

"I'm lovable, what can I say?" He said and she nodded.

"We've all noticed…it's awfully nice to be able to see people's faces again." She admitted.

"I'd imagine."

"Now, I hate to be the one to tell you, but almost the entire school knows you're in here. No one knows why because I was released yesterday so my discharge didn't coincide with your admission, which helped. I regained my eyesight through the hard work of Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore because I assumed that you wanted your part in this to be invisible." He nodded. "That's what I thought. Pomfrey said that you flat lined, you know." He nodded again.

"Yeah, I know. I've been beyond the veil." He said with a laugh. She smiled.

"See anything crazy?" She asked, joking. He hesitated for a second.

"Yeah, you know those rowboats that the First Years come to school on?" She nodded. "Yeah I was on one and James was there and it was weird." He said and she raised an eyebrow. He omitted her presence and replaced her with James quickly.

"Really? And what were you doing? Just sitting there?" She asked, interested.

"Uh, no I think I decided to stay alive actually. It was really strange. There was something about a boat 'going on' and apparently she was actually just a manifestation of a part of me or something." He said and she looked confused.

"There was a woman?" She asked and he shook his head. "You just said that _she_ was a manifestation of a part of you. Last I checked James is a guy." She said. Damn. "You didn't actually see James, did you? Or is he undergoing a sex change and didn't tell me?" She asked, adding the last part to lighten the mood.

"No, I didn't see James. I saw you."

"I asked you if you wanted to die?" She asked incredulously.

"Well it wasn't actually you, but yeah."

"Do you mind if I ask why I was there?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know. I asked you, uh her, the same thing and she said that she didn't know either. She also said that we'd meet again. Which is always nice to hear from a part of you that's deciding whether or not to die." He said and she nodded.

"Well I'm glad that you decided to come back. We're all glad, really." She said and he smiled. "I wouldn't have ever been able to forgive myself and it never would have stopped hurting." She said softly and ran a hand through her hair.

"Well I'm glad we got to prevent that." He said and she smiled a little.

"I need to go to class. Apparently temporary disability isn't an adequate excuse to miss Transfiguration these days." She said and stood up from where she had been sitting by his knees. She smiled and hugged him one more time before she walked away.


	23. Light the Way, Bring You Home

_Hey! So, I just updated Feel Again (I'm highly motivated today for some reason) so go check it out if you keep up with that too!_

 _THIS IS IT._

 _WE'RE FINALLY HERE._

 _Need I say more?_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _Brother, let me be your shelter_  
 _Never leave you all alone_  
 _I can be the one you call_  
 _When you're low_  
 _Brother, let me be your fortress_  
 _When the night winds are driving on_  
 _Be the one to light the way_  
 _Bring you home_

 _~Brother,_ NEEDTOBREATHE

* * *

"Lily, we all know that you've got it bad for James, so please just admit it so I don't have to spend the two and a half years listening to you moan and groan about 'that toerag Potter'." Dany laughed at her best friend. The girls were lying in the grass, swimsuit clad, behind Dany's house, trying to _finally_ get some sun after being cooped up in Hogwarts almost all year.

So there they were, under the brutal spring-almost-summer sun, sprawled out on towels with their sunglasses on, talking about the boys they liked, girls they hated, and the teachers that they dearly wished would quit. There were only two off-limits topics: schoolwork and the war. Lily waved her hand dismissively.

"As if I could ever like James. Honestly I don't know how his broom gets off the ground with that big head of his." She said with a certain level of dislike.

"Lils, you need to start getting more inventive with your insults; you've used that one already. On multiple occasions." Dany replied, still chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah I know, but honestly I'm just running out of different ways to call him a right arse…is that an owl?" Lily said, her statement quickly turning to a question. Dany looked up.

"Where?" She asked her friend and Lily pointed. Dany squinted her eyes slightly and saw what her friend's keen eyes had caught long before hers had. There was a dot, growing closer and bigger by the second, flying right towards them. The wings came into focus and finally Dany could see the color of the bird. It was a giant owl, a deep brown color. It was James' owl. Lily threw her hands up.

"The bloody moron can't even leave me alone during Holiday!" But the bird didn't fly towards Lily. It landed next to Dany and stuck its leg out, hooting in a more-frantic-than-usual way that Dany found unsettling. Dany untied the letter around his leg and instead of flying off again to return to James, the owl flew into the Masters home, presumably to join their family owl. Dany looked at Lily strangely, neither of the girls sure what exactly was happening. Dany opened the letter and felt her stomach twist painfully as she read the frantically written words.

 _Sirius in Mungo's. Come when you can._

"Well, what is it? What does he want?" Dany looked at her slowly.

"Sirius is in St. Mungo's…James said to come when I can. I think now would be a really good time, this is the handwriting of a frantic man." Dany said slowly and handed the note to Lily. She read it and she looked concerned. Both girls stood up and pulled on their shorts and tank tops. They walked inside and Dany yelled for her brother.

"Hey, Rae?" There was a noise what sounded faintly like 'what?' so she continued, "Sirius is in the hospital; we're going to head over. Tell Mom and Dad when they come home, if we're not back yet." There were quick footsteps and Rhaegar appeared moments later.

"Why is he in the hospital?" Rhaegar looked worried, despite not approving of his sister having a raging crush on one of the Blacks. He didn't particularly care for his sister's feelings towards Sirius Black, but he certainly didn't want the boy to be hurt and in the hospital.

"Not sure, James didn't say. Just said he was in the hospital and to come when I can. Just tell them when they get home, alright?" Rae still looked worried but nodded. He kissed his sister on the forehead.

"Be safe, girls." They both nodded and walked out the front door. They kept walking down the driveway until they passed through the gates and left the wards. Dany grabbed Lily's hand and they disapperated. They were new at it, and Dany was better than Lily at the task, less likely to splinch anyone. They appeared in the lobby of the magical hospital and Dany quickly moved towards the receptionist.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist asked without looking up.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a friend. I just found out he was here…Sirius Black?" Dany said quickly, trying to move the process along. The woman still didn't look up but flipped through some papers.

"No one but family is allowed in." Dany glanced back at Lily who raised her eyebrows as if to say 'is she serious?' Dany turned back to the lady.

"Look, I know that's the policy but really, he's like a son to my Godparents and my parents would be devastated to know that anything happened to cause Dorea and Charlie so much pain. Are you sure you can't make one _tiny_ exception to the rule? Just this once?" Dany tried to persuade her gently.

"Look lady I don't know who you think you are but if you keep trying to get in, I'm calling security." The woman said dismissively. Dany's eyes narrowed at the top of the woman's head, because she was _still_ looking down.

"Excuse me?" Dany heard her own voice change and she knew where it came from. She had heard her brother and father use it on countless occasions; it was the Masters temper finally revealing itself. The receptionist finally looked up and her eyes visibly moved to Dany's hair and then widened.

"Miss Danilynn, I am so sorry. I had no idea it was you." Dany sweetly smiled.

"It's no worry, just tell me what room my friend is in and we can pretend this never happened." She said cheerily. The woman bit her lip.

"I'm really not supposed to…" She muttered and looked warily around like one of her superiors was watching.

"Well, in that case, what's your name? I'm sure the director of St. Mungo's will be thrilled to hear that you denied the family of the _Minister_ access to your facilities." The receptionist seemed genuinely frightened.

"Floor 4. Room F." Dany smiled. She hated pulling the 'Minister's daughter' card, but she didn't seem to have a way around it.

"Thank you very much, you've been a great help. Lils, let's go." She said happily. Lily smiled hesitantly at the receptionist who looked mildly terrified.

"Sorry, she just… _really_ loves her friends." The redhead muttered to the receptionist as she walked by the desk. Dany rolled her eyes; it was just like Lily to

try and pacify everyone under the Sun. Lily looked up at her best friend, "What? People can like you, you know. It's not a sin." Dany rolled her eyes again.

"Please, Lils I _know_ that not everyone is going to like me, and you know what else? I'm okay with that." Dany retorted and she swore she heard Lily mutter something that ended in "…match made in Hell". Dany turned back around as she walked to quirk an eyebrow at her best friend, "What was that, Sweetheart?" Lily shrugged with a sly grin.

"Nothing, nothing. You said room F, right?" Dany watched her friend closely as she said this, but chose to ignore the topic change.

"Yeah…this is D…E…here we go, this is F." Dany said and the two girls looked at each other tensely. Without further ado, Dany pushed the door open to reveal James and his parents. The three looked up and all of them looked rather relieved that it was friends at the door and not healers. Dorea and Charlie both hugged their Goddaughter but then quickly left the room, to give them some time with James, Dany thought. Her Godbrother hugged her tightly.

"Dan. Thank God. Sorry I didn't say much in the note but I…I could barely string a sentence together when I sent it, to be honest," He said all of this with a strange look in his eye and Dany didn't miss the fact that his hands had been shaking when he had hugged her. She smiled a little at him and he seemed grateful, "I guess we can tell you now that you're here…Lily? What are you—?"

"I was at Dany's when she got your message. Believe it or not, as infuriating as I find you, I'd rather not see either of you dead." Lily said softly before he could finish asking what she was doing there. Even though she could barely stand James, Lily had always had a soft spot for Sirius. James looked at her sadly and nodded.

"James…what happened?" Dany asked him gently. James closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as if he had suddenly come down with a migraine.

"It was about 6 at night and we were eating dinner, right? But then someone knocks on the door and our House Elf goes to answer it. She opens the door and Sirius is passed out on our front porch next to his trunk. I would've thought that he Apparated but to say he doesn't have that particular skill down yet would be a spectacular understatement. So there's no one there, no broom, no way to Floo, no way he could have gotten there with out splinching himself. And despite the fact he was beat to Hell, all body parts were intact. We just assumed that someone dropped him off and left for some reason. We brought him here once Mom and Dad realized that he needed more than first aid. That was two days ago. Sorry my owl took so long." He said all of this with a defeated tone of voice and Dany had a keen suspicion that he hadn't slept since Sirius had unexplainably appeared on their porch. Dany hugged him again.

"James, I live in Scotland. It's not your fault that your owl can only fly so fast. He did a great job, by the way; he's resting up back at my place…how bad is he?" Dany said gently, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer. She distantly realized that Lily had been quite silent the entire time.

"See for yourself…he's in the far bed. This bloke got into a little accident on the Quidditch Pitch." James said as he gestured to the man that Sirius was apparently sharing a room with. Dany nodded and walked past him and to the other occupied bed. There was a screen up, to create some sense of privacy between the two people sharing the room. Dany could actually feel her heart break for the agony that James must be in. She couldn't imagine seeing her brother like this.

Sirius Black was not awake; he was barely breathing and there wasn't much of him that was undamaged. It rather looked like he had fallen down a couple flights of stairs that conveniently happened to be on fire, and then out a third floor window onto a set of kitchen knives. Looking at him now, Dany thought it was a damn miracle that he was even still alive. James came to stand next to her.

"They're keeping him sedated until his bones finish re-growing and some of the major organ damage has been repaired. A couple of his arteries got hit too. Dan…his parents did this to him, I'm sure of it. Damn, what I'd do to get a chance to wrap my hands around his mother's neck…" James muttered and his threats soon died off. Dany didn't look at James when she responded; they both just kept staring at Sirius. The most broken version of Sirius either of them had ever seen.

"If you really think it was his parents, and you have something to back it up other than your gut, I can write Alastor, see if he'll look into the Blacks as a favor." James smiled at her words and kissed her on the forehead.

"You wonderful, wonderful girl. We'll have to talk to him when he gets up, but I think those two need to go away for a very long time." Lily finally walked around the curtain and she placed a hand over her mouth.

"No one deserves this. His life has been hard enough, if anyone deserves a break…" Lily said softly to no one in particular. James nodded in agreement.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Lily, I really couldn't…I know you don't really care for me, but it means a lot that you came with Dan, so thank you, from me and from my family." James said earnestly. Lily looked at him, shocked. This was the soft, serious side of James that hardly anyone ever saw.

"Oh, well as much as you two drive me insane sometimes, I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to either of you…especially this, this is awful." Lily said in response, "Dan, I think I'm going to go home—to my parents. I'll swing by your place tomorrow if you're home, alright?" Dany nodded.

"Even if I'm not home tomorrow, go on over and get your stuff, you'll need it for school when we get back." She said and Lily nodded once before hugging her, whispering in her ear "hang in there", and vanishing out the door. James looked at Dany and pulled up two chairs. They sat down next to each other, backs to the door, facing Sirius' bed.

"It's going to be a long night." James said. Dany agreed and they continued to sit in silence until it was late at night and they fell asleep; James' head flopped to the side and Dany leaning forward, her head on the edge of Sirius' hospital bed.

* * *

Dany woke up because her head fell off the side of Sirius' bed. Before her chin hit her chest, she snapped her head up to look around instinctively. James was still asleep next to her, his head still over to one side. Dorea and Charlie were still nowhere to be found and the man in the other bed was silent. Nothing had changed since when she had fallen asleep.

She looked down at Sirius. Underneath all of the injuries, she could still see the basic features of his face; underneath the swelling around the eyes, there were still long eyelashes; the burn on his neck and jaw couldn't quite disguise his jaw line or chin. His hair was still the same color, even though there was likely still blood in it. His nose was slightly off kilter from normal but not so much that it wasn't unrecognizable. It was still him, and somehow that made it exponentially worse; objectively, he was attractive and classically handsome—beautiful even—and his face even now, under all of the damage done, was still there if you looked hard enough. What was missing was the smile, the funny comments, the eyes; he barely looked alive except for when occasionally he would twitch as his bones regrew. Dany felt another pang in her chest.

He moved a little in his sleep and Dany stood and left the room to try to find something to drink. She walked out to the hallway and immediately ran into two hospital administrators, a nurse, Michelle, Dorea and Charlie, and her brother and parents. Dany rubbed her eyes and realized she probably had a big red mark on her forehead from how she had been sleeping.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry." Her dad said softly to Dany. She hugged him.

"Daddy, it's so horrible, I'm scared for him." Dany whispered in her father's ear. He hugged her back and put his chin on her head.

"I know you are, Dan. I talked to Michelle, she said she would take him in her ward; she's head of intensive care, right?" Her dad said softly. Dany nodded a little.

"Dany, we're going to take care of him, alright? Look at me sweetie, I know you're scared, we are too, but you have to be strong. The road to recovery won't be easy for him." Rhea said softly. Dany looked at her mom and then her eyes moved to the healer; it was Michelle Carson. Dany smiled at her half-heartedly, her crappy night's sleep setting in.

"Hi, Michelle."

"Hello, Danilynn. Mr. Black will be moved to my ward, in a private room that can accommodate everyone that wants to stay, so I'm going to look him over quickly then we're going to move him, alright?" Michelle said gently.

"Alright…but is there a reason you're telling me this?" Dany asked cautiously. Dorea smiled at her gently.

"Because you were the only person James wrote to. And we'd all rather enjoy it if you didn't try to impale us with pointy objects. Which is exactly what would have happened if we moved him without telling you." Dany was taken aback for a minute. She had wondered why Remus, Frank, and even Peter hadn't come bursting in the door yet. James hadn't told them. And she _would_ have taken a scalpel to someone moving him if she hadn't known what was happening.

"Why don't we head back in there?" Michelle said softly and everyone nodded in agreement. They walked back in the room and James jolted awake. He turned around to see Dany, his parents, Daniel and Rhea, a healer and nurse, and two women who appeared to specialize in long, tedious paperwork.

"They're just going to move him to a different room, James. Come on." Charlie said softly to his son, who nodded silently. Michelle and the nurse carefully looked at him, trying to move quickly under the gaze of so many people. James and Dany watched from near the door, Rhaegar standing next to his sister and his arm wrapped around her. Michelle nodded to Dorea and Charlie and they started to move the bed out of the room. They all slowly walked down to the third floor and Dany felt rather like she was in a funeral processional. She tried to shake the morbid feeling and leaned on her brother heavily.

They finally reached the third floor and Michelle opened a door to a substantially nicer room than where Sirius had previously been. James raised an eyebrow at her. They situated his bed and James and Dany moved over to the side.

"Damn, my parents are _Aurors_ and I've never seen these rooms." He said, looking around at the room. Dany shrugged at him.

"I mean, they're expensive as all get out, so unless the person is going to be here for a long time, most people don't bother." She said, idly watching Michelle examine Sirius closer. She checked the time, it was nearly 4 in the morning, "God, it's almost morning. How much longer do you think they're going to keep him out?" James thought for a moment, except he was immediately interrupted.

"Well, his bones are all back and healthy and most of the damage done to his organs is as repaired as we can manage with him sleeping. We're going to cut the potion that's keeping him sedated. He should be up in four to six hours." Michelle told the room, apparently hearing Dany's question. Dorea and Charlie nodded, but still looked nervous.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Dorea asked. Michelle considered the question.

"We're not out of the woods yet and he's going to have a rough week or so, but provided nothing goes _too_ wrong, he should be just fine. And when he wakes up, you can tell him that nothing on his face is going to scar. People usually appreciate that news; don't get me wrong, he'll wear the marks from this for the rest of his life but his face is going to be intact once the bruises heal, we set his nose, and the burn on his neck and jaw heals." She said decidedly and Sirius and James' parents visibly relaxed. James slumped into Dany's shoulder with an audible sigh of relief. Dany felt rather like crying and Rhaegar glanced at her and gave her a small smile.

"That's great news; he's a vain bastard. He'd never shut up about it. The whining would be unbearable." James said and Dany laughed in agreement. Michelle and Rae looked over and while Michelle tried to suppress a smile for the sake of professionalism, Rae laughed outright. The two administrators took Dany's parents aside and the four of them walked out the door. Before leaving, Daniel paused.

"Rae, go on home for now. There's nothing more we can do. We'll be along soon. Dan I assume you'll be staying?" He told his son. Dany looked at the Potters.

"If they'll have me, I'd be glad to stay." She said and James immediately answered.

"If you don't stay I think I might hurl myself off the top of this building. There's a reason I wrote, you know." He said quickly. Dany smiled and nodded.

"I'll stay, James. For as long as you want me to. If there's anything I can do to make it easier, please tell me." Dany said softly, gently squeezing James' shoulder. Dorea and Charlie smiled at her and her parents left the room with approving glances. Rae kissed her on the forehead for the second time that night and then left.

James and Dany sat down on the couch against a wall and Dorea and Charlie sat in chairs near Sirius. Dany curled up into a ball and put her head on James' shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and rested his face against the top of her head. Neither of them fell asleep and neither moved for the rest of the night. Dorea and Charlie, on the other hand, couldn't keep still, one or both of them was constantly out of the room, doing one thing or another. Dany and James were alone when all of a sudden there was movement from the bed. Dany looked closer, just to make sure she wasn't just willing her imagination into Sirius waking up.

"James. Did you see him move?" James looked up from his stare-down with the floor.

"Dan, I think you're just imagin—no, he definitely just moved." Both of them stood up and rushed towards the bed. As soon as they reached the bedside, Sirius' eyes fluttered open, trying to adjust to the morning sunlight coming in from the open window.

"Wha—James? Dany? Where the hell am I?" He tried to sit up but James pushed him back into bed gently.

"Hey take it easy, Brother. You're in St. Mungo's; you're safe. You remember what happened right?" James asked but Sirius looked rather confused.

"Last thing I remember is being at my parents' house…I think I blacked out. How did you find me?" He asked and Dany exchanged a look with James, "What? What aren't you two telling me?" James shrugged at Dany and she understood she was going to be doing to talking.

"Sirius…you just, well, appeared on James' porch. Someone brought you there, knocked on the door, and left…any idea who?" Sirius looked confused momentarily then, as if lightning struck, he remembered.

"Regulus. It was Regulus. I—I remember being in a lot of pain…my parents left me to die, I think; Reg came into the room and pulled me off the ground. He had my trunk, I'm pretty sure…and he Apparated with me…beats me who taught him to Apparate though." Because of the war, apparition was now being taught to Fifth Years, lowing the age a year. However, Regulus Black was still a Fourth Year and wouldn't learn for another year. Dany and James exchanged a look that was essentially 'out of all the people, Regulus was not on the list'.

"I'm going to go get Michelle." James slowly said, casting Dany a meaningful look before leaving. Dany sat down in a chair next to Sirius' head.

"Gotta tell you, Dan, I'm kind of surprised that Mommy and Daddy let you out of the house alone in times like this." He said softly. Dany raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean I could always leave…you know, me and my parents, who are very concerned, by the way." She said casually, her simultaneously concerned and laughing eyes giving her away, her threat falling flat. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't want you here, I just said I wasn't expecting it. It's nice to have a face around that's not James' overly-concerned mug." He said quietly.

"Lily was here yesterday too and Sirius…James has every right to be concerned. You haven't seen yourself. You had to be moved to _intensive care_. Fortunately for you, my parents are good friends with the Head of the Department. Oh, she said to tell you that nothing on your face would scar, so you know."

"Lily was here? And seriously it wasn't that bad…all things considered I feel pretty good. Actually, I feel _too_ good. I know for a fact I had a broken leg and arm." He said, gently moving his arm. Dany felt her heart give an uncomfortable squeeze. Sirius tried to move to look at his body, but Dany gently pushed him back into bed.

"You don't want to, believe me. Wait until Michelle checks you out."

"Alright…how long have I been here?"

"Today makes three. I just got here yesterday afternoon, James wrote me in a quasi-understandable way and I came as fast as I could. Before you ask, no one knows outside of my family, the Potters, Lily, and me. The only reason Lily found out at all is because she was at my house when I got James' letter." He looked shocked.

"Three days? I've been out for _three days_?" Dany nodded at his shock.

"Yeah, I'd get comfy too. You've got a long way to go before you're well enough go anywhere…James asked me to talk to you about how this happened. I get if you don't want to, but he's pretty insistent. Just make up some bullshit lie if you want. I won't judge." Dany said as gently as she could.

"Oh…well, you can guess who it was…Dan, you really don't have to escalate this, it's not worth it, it really isn't." She raised an eyebrow at his protests.

"It isn't? What if this happened to me? Or to _James?_ You'd try and kill who ever did it with your bloody bare hands. You need to say who it was. Nothing can happen until you do, and you know it." He looked rather touched at this.

"…My parents. It was my parents." Sirius said softly, looking like he would rather be talking about a number of other things. Dany nodded and smiled sadly at him. Moments later, James, Michelle, Dorea, and Charlie all came in.

"You have some very good friends, who care very much for you. I remember what you look like from when Daniel was injured, so let's get this pretty face back and healthy, okay?" Michelle said kindly. James looked at Dany questioningly and she nodded.

"I'm off to the Ministry. I'll be back soon with the cavalry." She whispered before leaving the room for the Floo.

* * *

Once Dany reached the Atrium, her speedy trip slowed exponentially. People stopped her, shook her hand, thanked her for her family's bravery in these hard times. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to walk a hundred yards. Once she reached the lift, she pressed the button labeled "Two" and waited for the doors to open again. She reached Level 2 undisturbed and entered the Auror Office. People greeted her here more familiarly than the people in the Atrium; the Aurors knew her, they knew Rhaegar, because Moody was a dear family friend and the children had spent many a day playing in here while their parents were at work.

"Hey, Dan you know where your old man is?" Someone asked her. She shook her head.

"Can't say I do…you know where Alastor is? I need to talk to him in a bad way." Dany responded.

"I happen to be right here, girl." She turned around to be face-to-face with her brother's Godfather, "What can I do for you, Danilynn?" Dany looked at him apprehensively.

"We need to talk. Alone." She said and he nodded, gesturing towards his office. Once they were alone, she thought about the best way to approach this.

"Sirius is in the hospital." She said abruptly. It sounded harsh and loud in the silent room. Alastor looked at her keenly.

"I'm very sorry to hear that; Sirius Black is probably the only decent thing that family has ever managed to produce." He said kindly, yet still suspiciously. He knew she wouldn't have come here unless she needed something.

"He was beaten to within an inch of his life. He says it was his parents." She said, now unafraid. Moody looked at her, surprised.

"Does he know about this?" Moody asked cautiously and she nodded. "And you want me to arrest them?" He asked her one last time, to make sure she knew what she was doing. She nodded again. "I'm not going to lie to you, I've been waiting for _years_ to toss those bloody lunatics into Azkaban, and so has Florence; she might actually fulfill her life goal of putting them away permanently." Dany smiled a little. "I want to get the ball rolling on this. Strike while the iron's hot and such." He said briskly. Dany nodded and she grabbed his arm and they Apparated directly into the lobby of St. Mungo's. They arrived outside of Sirius' room and Dany opened it to see Sirius sitting up and listening to something James was saying to him and Dorea and Charlie were talking to Michelle; everyone glanced up and when they saw that Dany hadn't come back alone, they all fell quiet. Dany cleared her throat.

"Last time I saw you in here Sirius Black, you weren't the one in that bed." Moody said gruffly. "Dorea, Charlus, good to see you both, as always." Both of the Potters nodded their greetings and Michelle looked rather befuddled as to why there was an Auror in her ward that _wasn't_ on death's door, "As long as it's okay with your Healer, I want everyone out." He glanced at Michelle and she nodded.

"It's fine. If anything happens, press that button and someone will come." She left the room and the Potters and Dany began to follow her.

"Wait," Everyone looked at Sirius at the sound of his surprisingly strong voice, "She stays. She stays or I don't talk." Dany's eyes widened and she looked at James like she was considering qualifying Sirius as insane. James shrugged and clapped her on the back.

"Fine. Masters stays. Everyone else, out." Moody said sternly. Dany sat down in a chair a couple feet away from Sirius' bed. Moody sat down next to him.

"When you're ready, tell me what happened. Be as brutal or as vague as you want. Preferably more brutal. I need to make the court feel something and nothing does that like the gruesome details."

"Alastor." Dany said warningly. He shrugged.

"You brought me here, Danilynn." He said dismissively.

"Yes, well—"

"It's fine, Dany. Really." Sirius said tiredly. Dany looked apprehensive but said nothing, something that didn't go by unnoticed by Moody. He had never seen the girl bite her tongue to such an extent before in his life. She obviously disagreed and thought that it most definitely _wasn't_ fine but for once she didn't argue.

"Now that we've got Masters to shut her trap, we can get on with it." Alastor said briskly.

"Right…I don't really remember very much of it, honestly. I was arguing with my father over…I'm sorry I don't remem—James. We were arguing over Dany and James." He said, starting to remember. Dany jerked her head up.

"What about them?" Moody asked, obviously trying to be mindful that this was hard to talk about and the object of the argument was in the room.

"Well, it was less of an argument and more of an interrogation. I told them that there was no way I was sharing anything and they didn't take it very well." He said, absently staring at the wall across from his bed. "Mom was always a fan of the Cruciatus but Dad liked something that…left a lasting impression; he never cared for her mind games. I hardly remember anything else. I know someone found me after they just kind of left me in the dining room. I'm pretty sure it was my brother. That's all I have right now." Dany smiled a little at Sirius from where she was sitting.

"I'll head back to the Ministry to grab a few Aurors and go take your parents into custody. They'll remain in Azkaban until Daniel sets a trial date." Moody said as he stood up. "I'll leave you two alone." He Apparated without another word and Dany and Sirius stared at each other.

"How often?" Dany asked softly. He knew what she was talking about.

"How often are you and James involved in, well in _this_?" He said and he gestured to himself. Dany nodded silently. "James, hardly ever. Only when they bother to remember him, which is once every six months or so. You're kind of hard to forget though…every time you breathe too loud it's in the newspaper." He said. She didn't have to see her own face to know that she looked horrified.

"How come you never told me?" She whispered.

"It was never worth it. Either way it was going to keep happening so I let you live oblivious to it." He said with what was akin to a shrug in his injured state.

"Sirius Black if you weren't severely injured, I'd slap you into next week for that. You go home every break only to be abused over the fact you _know_ me, and you don't bother to tell me? At least let me feel appropriately guilty."

"Dany—" He tried to stop her. She ignored this, starting to pace.

"If I had known—"

"What? What would you have done? There's nothing you _could_ have done. I didn't want to have to tell you."

"You were being hurt and beaten bloody by your own parents just because you were unfortunate enough to make my acquaintance when we were eleven. I…I don't know what I would have done differently but I would have done something." She said, not thinking out the end of her tirade.

"Danilynn! Shut it for a second. There was nothing that you could have done that would have made a difference so please stop holding yourself accountable." He was losing his patience with this conversation and she saw it, but chose to ignore it.

"What your saying is that I shouldn't feel guilty that my very existence brought _this_ on you? That's kind of hard to—" Sirius' patience was up.

"They didn't care that I knew you!" He finally shouted back. "They cared because I'm in love with you." Dany's mouth flopped open.

"What?"

"You heard me." Dany continued to stare silently. "Will you say something? I can't run away right now." There was suddenly insecurity all over, now that the irritation had faded.

"How—how long?" Was the only thing she managed to get out.

"A while. Third Year, maybe?" He said as he shifted awkwardly in his bed. Dany made her decision impulsively.

"The end of Second Year." She said abruptly.

"What?" He said blankly and it occurred to her that he had no idea that she had been harboring a crush for years. She stared at him and he finally understood. "Second Year? Really? I'm flattered." He said and she felt her face turn red.

"Yeah, yeah don't rub it in. This is awkward enough as it is." She muttered and he laughed for the first time since he had woken up.

"Yeah, it really is…does this make us a thing?"

"I guess…it seems kind of stupid to sit around and both have feelings and do nothing about it." She replied. He grinned and shook his head.

"Out of everything I expected to come out of being beaten senseless by my parents, this wasn't on the list." He said. She had to agree with him. Before she could stop herself, she kissed him only for him to kiss back. She heard someone open the door and start clapping behind her slowly. She turned around quickly only to be face-to-face with James.

"It's about time. Do you know how horrible it was to hear you two obliviously whine about each other? I couldn't do anything about it, either. Except for little stuff like, you know, bringing her here and not bothering to tell anyone else." He grinned.

"You _knew_?!" Dany and Sirius both yelled at him.

"Hey, you both swore me to secrecy and if James Potter is anything, he's a man of his word." James said smugly. "Are you two officially dating? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" James batted his eyelashes at this with a girlish, partially mocking, way. Dany rolled her eyes and threw one of her shoes at him, which hit him in the chest. Sirius flipped him off but laughed.

"Sure, if she's okay with that." Dany heard Sirius say from behind her. She also felt her cheeks heat up again.

"I think the fact she just kissed you when your face looks like _that_ says her opinion pretty loud and clear, Pads. Seeing that you look like the bottom of my shoe right now, I don't think she was going for the cute hookup route." James said, answering for Dany.

"James, play nice." Dany said, still smiling.

"See? You two are already ganging up on me. Ah, what's the line my dear Lily uses? 'More like a match made in Hell'?" James responded in a singsong voice. Dany threw her other shoe at him, this one he caught, leaving her barefoot. James grinned and took both of her shoes, running out the door. Dany considered following him but decided not to. She sat down near Sirius' head, where Moody had sat earlier.

"You don't really look that bad, you know." She said softly, inspecting his face. She was lying. He was hardly recognizable.

"No, I really _do_ look that bad. I don't need to look in a mirror to know that." He responded and Dany felt quite bad for him. She smiled slightly.

"Nah, it's still you under there. Not even a near-death experience can make you unrecognizable." She responded and he took her hand, which surprised her but she made no effort to move away. "You're just…more purple and crooked right now." She said softly. He laughed then winced at the movement.

"More purple and crooked. That's a good way to describe it…so you spend a lot of time looking at my face?" He said suddenly with a grin. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Very funny. You asked what was the same and I told you. Like you don't stare at my face? My face deserves to be stared at." She said with a smile and false arrogance. He smiled again, this time softer. Just then, the Potters walked into the room, rescuing her from answering that statement. James grinned at how close their faces had been.

"Hey Mom, Dad. Guess what." James said, catching sight of their linked hands. Both of James' parents looked unimpressed. James was pretty transparent and his parents had pretty good luck at 'guessing what' most of the time.

"What, James?" His mother said, bored.

"Dany and Sirius are dating." He said with another grin.

"James!" Dany and Sirius both yelled at him. Charlie grinned a smile identical to his son's and Dorea gasped.

"Really?" She said and Dany and Sirius exchanged a look. Sirius smiled at her and she felt herself smile back.

"Yeah, really." Dany replied to her Godmother. Dorea hugged her and looked for a relatively unharmed part of Sirius to hug. She couldn't find one so she just kissed the top of his head.

"Sirius Orion, I want to make something abundantly clear. She is the best you will _ever_ do, so don't fuck it up, Son." Charlie said, putting on his Dad voice.

"Yeah, I kind of figured as much. Can't really see how I'd do better, to be honest." He said to his adopted father and Dany felt her face go crimson as Dorea continued to coo over the new relationship.

"Did this just happen? Just now?" Dorea gushed. Dany nodded.

"Yeah, just now." She said.

"It's just so perfect. In the hospital and with heartfelt confessions, I could just die it's so cute." Dorea continued on.

"Well it looks like I just lost my best friend to _another_ girlfriend." James sighed. His mother hit him over the head and Charlie laughed. James caught her eye and smiled.

"Aw, don't worry James you can have him on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other weekend." Dany laughed and Sirius protested.

"Oi! Do I get a say in this or am I just going to be passed around like a quaffle?" He said and James and Dany both shook their heads.

"Quaffle." They said simultaneously.

"Man, wait until I tell Lily." James added.

"Okay, _I_ get to tell Lily." Dany said and her Godbrother laughed.

"We're all invested in your relationship so please don't screw it up." He said.

"You've got to be joking. That's why they were all always pushing so hard about that…damn I'm blind." Dany said and James laughed.

"You have no idea how nagging they all were when Sirius started dating around." James said and Dorea rolled her eyes before pulling her husband and son out of the room as Michelle walked back in.

"Sorry to break up whatever is happening in here but he needs to take a few potions and I need to set his nose." She said and Dany got up to go stand near the wall, out of the way. He downed the potions but still made a face. "Oh what are you, twelve? Besides, it doesn't burn nearly as much as firewhiskey does on the way down and you know it." Michelle said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"True enough…aren't Healers supposed to be nice and nurturing or something?" He said and before she said anything else, Michelle waved her wand and his nose corrected itself with a crack. He yelped and rubbed it carefully.

"We are when our patients are compliant. I will hold you down and force-feed you these potions if I have to." She said and smiled at Dany before she left the room. "Oh and Danilynn, your boyfriend's face should be back in working order in a day; until then, keep your hands off each other." She said with a wink before leaving.

"James has such a big mouth." She said and sat back down. Sirius laughed.

"He really does…why do all of your family friends have attitudes? It's really kind of disconcerting."

"My family has a hard time finding people that will be honest…we get a lot of people who want to suck up to get a boost in the Ministry. We like people who tell it like it is." She said absently. "At least you'll always know if they like you or not. No one's going to bother to lie." She said and he grinned. "Your nose looks better." She observed and he grinned.

"Are you ever going to let me see my own face?" He asked.

"No way. I already had this conversation with James. We decided that you're too vain and seeing your face like this would demolish your ego."

"I'm not _that_ vain." He argued and she shook her head.

"Oh yes you are. You are _so_ that vain." She laughed and he rolled his eyes.

"Alright, it's not my fault that other people tell me that I'm hot. It's not like I go around saying it." He countered and she had to admit to that.

"I'll give you that one…just so you know, my dad's probably going to threaten you in some way that involves some form of death that would be legal and executed through a series of loopholes that no one knows exists except for him." She said casually. Sirius' eyes widened. He had forgotten the classic right-of-passage of dating: talking to your girlfriend's father.

"And I thought he liked me." He said and she laughed.

"He does. But as it so happens, that can change quickly if you do something that he doesn't approve of. My feelings are very important to him, or so I'm told." She said and he looked horrified, to say the least.

"I would say that 'very important to him' is an understatement. You're his baby girl; something I'm sure he'll bother to mention at some point in that conversation. Ugh, I'm going to have to like, _re-meet_ your parents. Like it wasn't terrifying enough meeting your dad, the bloody Minister of Magic, the first time. At least I didn't have to worry about him chucking me into Azkaban last time." He said and Dany laughed again.

"My father is a lovely person. No one's getting chucked into Azkaban, not unless I want him to be." He looked simultaneously amused and mildly scared.

"That's reassuring, thank you. So does this mean that I can publically hate all guys that hit on you now and not just to James in private?" He asked and she laughed at this.

"I guess…I don't know—I've never had the experience of having a boyfriend that gets concerned." She said with a laugh.

"You dated Brady, Dan." He said and she nodded in agreement.

"I did, but he wasn't particularly…worried about that. He never bothered to stop guys from looking; I doubt he even ever noticed if it happened. I mean they hardly ever did anyways so it wasn't a huge deal." She said with a shrug and he looked amused.

"Well that's about to change. I'm going to actively start disliking guys that try to hit on you." He said and she laughed at that.

"Alright, if that's what you want…just don't send anyone to the hospital. Anyone else." She corrected herself. She had momentarily forgotten that it had been Sirius and James to ship Brady off to the same facility she was sitting in right now. Sirius' eyes widened exponentially. "My dad's right behind me, isn't he?" Sirius nodded silently.

"Who was sent to the hospital?" Her father said as Dany turned around. Daniel was smiling and looked interested.

"Dad." Dany said, looking surprised. It was the middle of the workday.

"Dany. Now, first of all what's this James said about dating?" He asked his daughter. Dany didn't know how to answer that.

"James has a big mouth." She said and Daniel laughed.

"That much is definitely true, I'll give you that…but I'd like to hear this myself." He said and Dany didn't answer. Her father obviously wasn't talking to her. "So Sirius, are you dating my daughter?" He asked and Sirius looked uncomfortable, probably because her father was staring at him intently and completely impassively.

"Uh, yes I am…please don't kill me." He added on quickly and then suddenly Daniel laughed and Dany relaxed.

"Ah, it's about time you two. Now Sirius, you have to understand that I'm going to have to threaten you with some form of harm if you hurt my daughter." Sirius looked terrified. There was no smile or laughing look in his eyes, he was dead serious. "Even in your injured state, I must say that Dany is my only girl and she's the baby of the family; so if you ever hurt her emotionally or physically, if you even _breathe_ on her in a way I don't like, I will have Dementors chase you down until the end of your days, and that's if her brother doesn't get to you first. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." He said quickly, still looking mildly terrified.

"Daddy, I think we can let him off the hook; he's in a hospital bed." Dany said with an eye roll. Her father kissed the top of her head and shrugged.

"I'm just making sure he understands, sweetheart." He said gently to his daughter. "Sirius understands, right Sirius?" He barked suddenly.

"I understand. Loud and clear." Sirius said. Even though he had been beat to hell and back it was still all over his face that Sirius was not enjoying this encounter with her father. Dany could tell that her dad was intentionally prolonging this conversation, just to torment him a little.

"Dad, stop. You didn't do this with Brady." Her father didn't look swayed.

"I'm doing this _because_ of Brady; we don't need a repeat. Now, I need to be heading back to work. Goodbye, you two." He said before leaving. He paused on his way out. "And Sirius? You should know that your parents are in the custody of the Auror Department. They'll be in Azkaban until I set a trail date and their verdict can be determined…that trial date will be a very, _very_ long way away from now. I'm a busy man, you know. I have more pressing matters to handle." He said with a small smile and a wink before leaving.

* * *

The painkillers were clearly wearing off a few hours after Daniel left because Sirius was _really_ starting to feel his aches and pains. He was really trying to ignore them because he'd rather stay awake and coherent, but that wasn't going to be feasible for much longer. He was in a _lot_ of pain. Dany noticed after a bit. He wasn't surprised she noticed.

"I'm going to go get a nurse or Michelle; you need something for the pain." She said and stood up.

"Dan, I'm fine. Really, I wasn't expecting to feel on top of the world." He protested and she shook her head.

"Hush. If you can now openly hate guys that hit on me, I can now openly worry. I'll be right back." She said and smiled before she walked out of the door. Damn, this was one hell of a stint in the hospital. He hadn't meant to yell at her at all, let alone that he was in love with her. Dany walked back in with a nurse, who smiled kindly at him.

"Hello, dear. I hear that you're feeling a little pain?" She asked and Sirius glanced at Dany, who seemed like she wasn't in the mood for his 'I'm not in pain, honestly' crap. He nodded.

"Yeah, nothing feels very good at the moment." He said and the nurse nodded before starting to mess with the IV he hadn't noticed in his arm until just now.

"Well, let's give you some of the good stuff, huh?" She said and carefully pumped something out of a syringe and into the tube. Dany sat back down next to him and the nurse smiled a little, noticing him looking at her. "She isn't going anywhere, hon." She added on and Dany nodded. Sirius suddenly felt very weird and then he didn't remember anything else until the middle of that night.

It was Michelle that had woken him.

"I'm just here to give you a couple of potions and to start getting the burn on your jaw healed up." She said and handed him a few potions that he downed and let her put something on his jaw and neck. "It's going to burn for a little bit but then it's going to get a lot better. The stinging should go away after about half an hour." She whispered, pausing as Dany made a sound in her sleep. Sirius nodded and Michelle carefully pulled back the covers of his hospital bed and started to examine various body parts. She apparently found nothing worrisome and let him crawl back under the covers. Sure enough, his jaw was starting to burn. He had to fight the urge to rub the stuff of his face. "I know it sucks, but it's the fastest way to get you out of here. I like you, but I don't want to keep you." Dany's eyes fluttered open.

"Michelle?" She asked groggily. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure that all of his body parts are in working order. Sirius, once your jaw's healed up, we can get rid of the bruising on your face." She added on and he nodded. Dany looked around, obviously mostly asleep.

"I hate the fucking hospital." She muttered before she fell back asleep. Michelle suppressed a smile and Sirius shook his head a little.

"That's all for now. Try to get some more sleep." She said and Sirius nodded.

The next morning, Dany was already up and it appeared that someone had brought her a change of clothes because she was no longer dressed like she had come straight from a swim in a pool. She was in a giant shirt and leggings and was curled up with a book in the same chair. He woke up and she looked up.

"Good morning." She said softly and he yawned.

"Morning. What time is it?" He asked and she checked the time.

"About nine. Your jaw looks better." She observed and he nodded.

"It definitely feels better, I can tell you that." He said and she smiled a little.

"That's good." She said as Michelle walked in.

"Dan, I'd like you to leave the room. I'm going to have a look at his back and legs." She said and Dany nodded before standing and leaving. Michelle inspected him. She pulled the covers back off of him. "Alright, let's see if you can stand on your own." She said and poked his legs with her wand. Nothing happened. "Well up you go." She said and she carefully helped him out of bed. It was the first time he had actually stood up since he had walked into the dining room of Grimmauld Place. "So, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're going to have to strip." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"At least buy me dinner first, Michelle." He said and she laughed.

"I think I'll save that bit for your newfound girlfriend…alas, I'd just like to see if everything's healing the way it should." She said and forced him out of the hospital gown. And now he was naked and this was _super_ uncomfortable. She didn't say anything for a while which just made it ever more uncomfortable.

"Well that's it for your back. Everything is radically improved since you were admitted so that's good. You can also get dressed again." She added on and he gratefully put the pseudo-clothes back on and got back into bed. She walked out of the door for a second and poked her head back in. "Ah, it appears that your friends have returned. Do you want me to let them in?" She asked and he nodded and she vanished. Dany, James, and Lily all walked in. Sirius was surprised to see Lily, but he had no problem with her presence. She was a distraction for James to have that wasn't him. Judging by the way she wasn't absolutely ready to die with excitement, Dany hadn't told her that they were dating. That sounded weird even in his head. Dany and James stayed back and Lily came over to greet him.

"You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you." She said and he smiled at her.

"Hi, Lily. It's good to see you." He said and she smiled and looked like she would have hugged him if he hadn't been injured. She touched his shoulder lightly; much like her best friend, she had a very gentle touch and a very unassuming demeanor when she needed to. No wonder the girls got on so well.

"You too. It's really good to see you." She said and James asked her a question, distracting her for a second. 'Does she know?' he mouthed to Dany. She shook her head a little with a small smile that she immediately hid as Lily turned around from talking to James. She sat down in the seat that everyone had been trading around and he saw Dany exchange a look with James, where they were standing in the back of the room.

"Hey Lily believe it or not, Sirius managed to wrangle up girlfriend eleven in here." James said and Lily looked at him disbelievingly.

"Are you joking? _In the hospital?_ Are you going for nurses now? You could at least stick with school age girls." She asked with a snort. He shook his head.

"Cute, but no. The nurses here aren't very cute, not like I'm one to talk right now." He said and Lily looked at Dany and James like she wanted them to help her. They both shrugged and Dany was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Can I have a hint?" She asked, apparently completely not expecting the relationship she'd been plotting for years to _actually_ happen.

"You know her, if that helps." Lily's eyes widened. She turned towards Dany.

"Really?" She asked. Dany nodded.

"Really." She replied and Lily immediately started squealing and hugged her friend, who seemed taken off-guard by the level of enthusiasm.

"Oh my God, this is so amazing and it's just so cute and give me another hug, Danilynn." She said and Dany hugged her warily as Lily simultaneously kept talking and squeezed her friend. It was to the point that Sirius was rather worried that Lily was going to suffocate her. He exchanged a look with James.

"I told you that we're all very invested." He said and Sirius rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Lily relinquished her friend and turned towards him.

"Now, Sirius Black I want to make something incredibly clear right now. I'm sure Daniel's already beat me to it, but it's still my duty to say it. If you hurt her in any way, shape, or form I will turn your life into a living hell." Sirius didn't doubt it.

"She's very…impassioned about this. Obviously." James commented.

"I see that. It's kind of terrifying, not going to lie. Are they all _that_ enthusiastic? Please say no." James laughed.

"No, no me and Lily were the most invested because we're your respective best friends. The others are interested and have been conspiring with us, but once they figure it out they'll move on pretty quickly. There's going to be a lot more squealing girls though." He added on and Sirius nodded, unsurprised by the last bit. Michelle walked back in and everyone looked up. Lily seemed confused.

"Oh, Lily this is Michelle Carson. She's Sirius' Healer. She was also my dad's healer, right before Fourth Year." She said delicately and Lily nodded. "Michelle, this is Lily Evans. She's the best friend." She said simply and Michelle smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you, Lily." She said kindly and Lily smiled back at her. "So, if everyone wouldn't mind clearing off to the corners, I need to look at his face again. And his arms…because you literally don't have a part of you that isn't injured." She murmured the last part to him and Sirius knew it was true. She sat down next to him and poked his jaw, which Sirius expected to hurt quite a bit. It didn't hurt at all. "Well, I think we can finally fix up your face all of the way." She said and he nodded. "All that's left is the bruising." She said.

He noticed for the first time that this was a mix of Muggle and magical. Michelle was pushing the speed of his recovery in everyway she knew how. Sirius was rather thankful. Lily said something to Dany and Dany responded with a nod. James was staring at him intently. Michelle checked her watch after a few minutes of them all standing there, silent for the most part.

"Damn, Michelle." Dany said after a few minutes. "That's incredible."

"Thank you, dear. It's my job, you know." She said and Dany nodded. "Alright, let me see your arms." She said and Sirius handed her his left arm. "Everything looks fixed up in your shoulder and most of the muscles are mended." She examined his right arm. "Same over here. So I think I can discharge you into the care of Dorea and Charlie early tomorrow morning." He raised an eyebrow at James. He shrugged.

"What?" James asked him and Dany smiled a little and motioned out of the room to Lily. Michelle slowly backed out of the room and murmured, "I'll get your parents" to James. James sat down next to him. "Honestly mate, did you really think that we were going to kick you out into the street?"

"I haven't thought about it, honestly. Between the fact I almost died and then the whole deal with Dany, it hasn't really crossed my mind." He said and Dorea and Charlie walked in.

"Well, we have and you're staying with us and I don't want to hear shit about it, son." Charlie said and Sirius closed his mouth.

"We should've taken you in a long time ago. You're already family and you're living with us and now we'll finally be a proper family." Dorea said.

"So do I say thank you or is that not allowed either?" James snorted.

"Please, no one is that gracious in this family. It's what's right and we want to. Besides, if you hate living with us, I'm sure that Dany and hers would take you in. Either way, you're not going back and you're not going to be on your own." James said and Sirius nodded. Someone knocked on the door softly. It was Dany.

"Dorea? Charlie? Mom's here. She wanted to know if you needed anything from home or anything at all." She said softly and Dorea left with her.

"We're okay, dear." Charlie said and Dany nodded before leaving. "You are going to have _so_ many women making all over you for the next four or five days." Charlie said and Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"Last I checked Dorea is the only woman that lives with you." He said and James shook his head.

"Nah, Dan and Rhea are going to stay with us until school resumes. So Mom, your girlfriend, and her mother are all going to be fussing over you. Not to mention the house elf. Sally is a real sweetheart." James said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"That just seems excessive." He said and James shrugged.

"They offered to stay. I mean I could always tell them that there's no need, but I somehow doubt that you're going to turn down an extended stay with your girlfriend." James said and Sirius shrugged. "So how weird is it? Dating her, I mean." He asked and Sirius shrugged again.

"It doesn't seem weird at all, which is the weird part. It should feel weird, but it doesn't." He said and James grinned.

"This entire time and you had no idea she liked you." He mused and Sirius rolled his eyes. "You should have heard her talk about you. It was the same way you talked about her." He said and Charlie was suppressing a smile. A nurse walked in and Sirius knew why. They wanted to put him on more painkillers. She walked over and pumped more of the drugs into his system and he passed out pretty quickly.

* * *

Sirius was, true to Michelle's word, discharged into Charlie's care the next morning. Rhea walked in as Charlie helped him up.

"Charlus Potter, have you lost your ever-loving mind? Has Michelle cleared him to walk out of here on his own?" She asked and Sirius saw very quickly saw what James was talking about in terms of fussing women. Rhea Masters was a strong woman, who had her own stubborn ideas on a lot of things, but she was still a mother. It apparently wasn't Daniel that made soup for his sick kids and obsessed over their health. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Rhea. She cleared him. The boy has to walk eventually." He said and Rhea nodded before allowing him to stand up.

"I know for a fact that Michelle hasn't cleared him for Apparation or Floo so we're driving up to Godric's Hollow." She said and Charlie nodded before putting him in a car that obviously was here at Daniel and Rhea's request, judging by the fact that the person driving was a Ministry worker.

"Hey Hank, we're ready when you are." Rhea said and the man nodded.

"Sure thing, Lady Rhea." He said and started to pull out of the hospital.

"It's about three hours by car." Charlie said to him and Sirius nodded. "Try and get some more sleep, okay?" He said and Sirius nodded again. Before closing his eyes. The last thing he saw was Dany's mother pulling out a book and Charlie quite obviously watching the city go by. He was going home and for once, he wasn't dreading it.

"Sirius. Sirius, you need to get up." Someone said and he looked around. It was Charlie and they were in Godric's Hollow. He sat up and nodded, just as they pulled into the Potter's driveway. The car came to a stop and Rhea thanked the driver before helping Sirius out of the car with Charlie. James came out of the house.

"Mom put him in the room one down from mine. Sally'll show you up there." He said and Sally the house elf appeared next to James, who walked back in the house.

"Welcome home, Master Charlie, Master Sirius. Lady Rhea, it's so good to see you." She said sweetly. This elf was so bloody nice.

"It's lovely as always, Sally. How are you?" Rhea asked her kindly and she smiled back.

"I'm wonderful, Lady Rhea. It's good to have Master Sirius home." She said and Sirius wondered how widely the 'Sirius lives here' memo had been distributed. "How are you, ma'am?"

"I'm wonderful as well, thank you for asking. James said you'd show us upstairs?" She asked and the elf nodded before walking back inside the house. Even though she didn't technically wear clothes, the Potters took good care of her and had found a way around it, making different things into "clothes". They would have given her clothes if she had allowed them to. She led them up the stairs and Charlie and Rhea were carefully watching him, in case he fell. They made it up the stairs and Sally directed them to a room, where Dany was sitting on the foot of the bed.

"Miss Dany." Sally said and Dany smiled at her.

"Thank you, Sally. Could you go make sure that Dorea doesn't need any help? I think she's on the verge of having a panic attack from all of the hyper vigilant Mom instincts." She asked and the elf vanished with a smile and a pop. Dany stood up. "I've got him." She said quietly to her mother and Charlie, who both nodded before kissing her cheek and leaving. "Now, I'm going to take a guess and say that you'd like real clothes." She said and he nodded.

"I would kill for a real shirt. Not to mention that if Michelle never sees me naked again, it'll be too soon." He said and she laughed before handing him clothes.

"Well that's charming. You can add her to the list of women who've seen all of your bits and pieces." She said teasingly and he laughed. "Go change. I'll be right here if you need anything." She added on. Sirius walked into the bathroom. He changed and brushed his teeth, which he didn't realize how much he missed until he hadn't in four days, before walking back out into the room. Dany was still there. "You look better. Alright now get in bed. Healer's orders." She said and he rolled his eyes before getting in bed. "How do you feel? Any pain?" She asked and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. He shook his head. "You sure? Michelle sent home mild pain relievers, just in case." She said and he nodded. It was obvious that Dany's tendencies towards the injured and ailing came from her mother.

"I'm sure. This is so much more comfortable than a hospital bed." He said and she nodded.

"The beds in this house are incredible; they always have been. Now, Dorea has been going crazy and I think she's made at least three kinds of soup for you by now, so I think I'll let her know that you're settled in. Not to mention all of the bloody casserole." She said and left, pausing to kiss his forehead. Sally appeared moments later, completely unprompted.

"I'm going to be under constant observation, aren't I?" He asked her and she nodded.

"We all want to be sure that you're okay. Everyone's very worried, Master Sirius. Mistress Dorea has been in a right state for days." Sally said and sat in the desk chair.

"Thanks, Sally. But you don't have to stay." He said and she shook her head.

"I want to." She said and Sirius rolled his eyes but said nothing more on the topic. Women. Dorea walked in alone moments later, telling Dany to hurry up.

"Excuse me but this is heavy and I'm short. If you wanted speed then you should have asked James or Charlie to carry this up and not me." He heard her respond from the hallway.

"Dear, if I asked them to carry something that could spill, there would be nothing left by the time it got here." She said and Dany laughed, finally coming into view. She had a tray in her arms that seemed like it was far too big for her body. She handed it to Dorea and Sally smiled at her Mistress before vanishing again. Dany sat in the seat Sally had just emptied. "Sirius Black, you need to have this soup and so help me if you don't finish it." Dorea said and sat down next to him, on the edge of the bed.

She didn't have nearly as gentle of a touch as the Masters women did; she was much more intent on health than comfort. Dany and Rhea had asked about pain and wanted to make sure he wasn't hurting, but Dorea seemed very set on making him drink unpleasant potions and force-feeding him soup to help him get better. Where Dany and her mother had wanted to keep him off his feet and keep him comfortable, Dorea was clearly much more goal-oriented. Sirius quietly ate the soup, which was quite good, under the watchful eye of Dorea Potter. Once he had finished it she took the bowl and nodded approvingly before leaving. Dany looked amused.

"Come here, Dan." He said and she walked over and sat next to him in bed. She was a comforting presence; she always had been. He put an arm around her and she moved closer to him, as close as she could get without sitting on top of him. It was very different to be able to have her close and not have to worry about crossing the invisible line between friend and boyfriend. She took one of his hands, examining his fingers and palms, tracing the lines on his palm.

"You have a long life line." She murmured absently.

"Since when do you pay attention to divination?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I don't. That just stuck with me. How are you?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I've been better, but I've definitely been worse. I've been _so_ much worse. It still kind of amazes me that everyone is so nice." He said and she shrugged.

"This is what family is supposed to be like, Sirius…you've been cheated your entire life and you never even knew it." She said.

"I never really thought about it, but I guess I have been…so I have to say that I didn't know that so many people had money out on us." He said and she laughed.

"I didn't either. I would have placed my own bet, if I had known. Alas, it was a lost opportunity." She said and they sat in silence for a little while. It was a very comfortable silence, which always took Sirius by surprise; he usually hated silence, usually filling it with rambling small talk, but he made no such efforts now. Dorea walked in and immediately smiled.

"So cute." She whispered and Sirius wondered why she was whispering. He glanced down at Dany; she had apparently fallen asleep with his arm around her and she was breathing deeply and obviously was content. "You need to take these." She handed him potions. He took them and handed her the vials back, trying not to cough, in case he woke Dany up. "Try and sleep, dear." She said quietly and he nodded. Dorea gently shook Dany awake; she looked up at her Godmother. "Dan, he needs to lay all the way down so please give him his arm back." She said quietly and Dany nodded before leaning forward to give him the ability to move his right arm. He actually lay down completely and Dorea nodded before leaving, saying that she'd wake him for dinner tonight.

Dany got up from the bed and paused for a moment at the edge of it and kissed him gently. That was actually the first time that she had kissed him and it hadn't been completely abrupt and so shocking that he didn't really kiss her back or even process it. He wasn't shocked that she was pretty clumsy between the facts that she was still partially asleep, they didn't know each others bodies at all, and she had only been with Brady (who was mediocre himself and a downright shitty teacher from what girls had said).

"Go to sleep. Someone will be here when you wake up." She said quietly before sitting in the desk chair. He nodded and almost immediately fell asleep.


	24. Show Me Your Heart, Shed A Light on Me

Hi! So, this is a long one and all it's really doing is establishing Dany and Sirius' relationship within the castle and not just within the bounds of Sirius being injured. Now, there's a lot going on here and I'll try not to pack so much into one chapter in the future, but I couldn't find a good place to stop!

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

* * *

 _Don't leave me here in the dark when it's hard to see_  
 _Show me your heart, shed a light on me_  
 _If you love me, say so, If you love me, say so_  
 _You know I can't live without you, I'm on my knees_  
 _Where are you now? Shed a light on me_  
 _If you love me, say so, If you love me, say so_

 _~Shed A Light,_ Robin Schulz, David Guetta, and Cheat Codes

* * *

"Sirius, it's time for dinner. Daniel decided to drop by and we're having casserole." James said quietly, trying to wake him up. Sirius looked around and it was clearly becoming dark out.

"I'm up, I'm up. This is the nicest wakeup call I've ever gotten from you."

"Well I didn't feel like I could push you out of bed without my mother, Rhea, or Dany coming up here and castrating me for it. Now get up; I'm hungry." He said and Sirius stood up and James watched him to make sure he didn't take a tumble. They walked down stairs and they were all clearly getting ready to sit down. James and Sirius walked into the dining room and there were people everywhere.

"Dan, can you grab the butter?" Dorea called out from where she was putting bread on the table. Dany came into the dining room with the butter and looked up and smiled.

"Make Dad do it!" She yelled back suddenly into the kitchen at a demand that no one else heard and Sirius heard Daniel protest.

"Daniel, take this out to the trash; it has raw chicken in it and it'll start to smell soon." Sirius heard Dorea say and Dany laughed victoriously before Charlie walked by and rolled his eyes.

"So spoiled." He said knowingly and she shrugged.

"Okay, I'm coming! Calm down you two." She yelled back into the kitchen again and Sirius got the impression that this was very organized chaos. They just kind of stood there and let it happened.

"James! I need a hand." Rhea called out from the kitchen. "Dany can't carry both of these things on her own." James walked off and Daniel came in from taking the trash out.

"My wife and Dorea are a force of nature, honestly. It's like a typhoon or a hurricane; you just have to ride it out." He said and Sirius laughed. Dany came out with a tray of casserole and so did James. Sirius realized that they were feeding seven people, which was substantial. "In case you're wondering, Rhaegar is still at work; it's nothing personal." He added on and Sirius laughed.

"It's absolutely personal, but I don't really mind much." He said.

"Okay it's a little personal. But he is at work." He admitted and Dorea started yelling at them all to sit down. Everyone started shuffling around the table and Sirius ended up between Dany and Rhea and across from James, who was easily talking to Daniel, who was beside him. Dorea and Charlie were at the heads of the table and everyone was pouring drinks from the pitchers on the table. Sirius suppressed a laugh as Dorea told her husband to stop talking about work or "so help me I will jinx your hair blue and no one will fix it and then you'll have to go to work that way and Moody will skin you".

"Alright everyone, dig in." Dorea said and everyone started taking portions of food and were all happily talking and laughing. This was the merriest dinner Sirius had ever seen. There were so many people and they were all family in some way or another. Rhea took his plate and handed it back to him with food.

"Make sure and eat, dearie. Recovering teenagers need lots of protein and even more comfort food." She said and Dany smiled a little, obviously listening. Rhea turned away to talk to Charlie and Dany laughed a little.

"Sorry about her. She's just…she really doesn't like to see people hurting." She said and Sirius shrugged.

"You know that you're the exact same way, right?" He asked and she raised an eyebrow. "I always thought that you had very little in common with her, but you have that." He said and her face turned slightly red.

"I never really thought much about it, honestly, but I guess so." She said and ate her casserole. Dorea looked up with a smile.

"You're a very nurturing person by nature, Dany. You can't help it; you get it from your mother." Dorea said and both teens looked over at her. "It's true. You didn't get that gentle touch and kind bedside manner from your father, you know." She said knowingly. "You get the ability to stick things in people's eyes from him though." She said and Dany laughed.

"It's true. We're good at poking people full of holes." She said and James looked over and grinned.

"Aw, come on Dan you might be good at it, but it's not what comes naturally to you. Healing, not hurting, is what's natural for you." He said and Dany rolled her eyes. Sirius actually thought that he had a good point, but said nothing. The rest of dinner passed uneventfully and soon Daniel said his goodbyes to everyone and said that he'd be back over sometime soon. Dorea sent Charlie to go put Sirius into bed and Sally watched him until he fell asleep after Sirius refused Michelle's painkillers.

"Sirius. Come on, wake up." Someone said and was touching his shoulder. "Fuck, he just hit me!" None of this was really processing with him because there were so many bodies. "He isn't listening to me, it's like he isn't hearing me." It was a guy. They were all dead. They were all dead and their bodies were everywhere.

"Go get Dany, James; maybe she can wake him up." Dany. God, if only she was dead. Her screams were bouncing around in his head and were about ready to pop his eardrums. She was just screaming so much. It had to stop. It just had to stop. She'd be so much better off if she were dead. He was going to go crazy. He was going to lose his mind listening to her screams.

"Sirius?" A softer voice replaced the original one. "Sirius, can you wake up for me? James, get out. You're not helpful at all, right now." He knew that voice, but she was just screaming so loud that Sirius could barely hear the familiar voice. She was begging for mercy that no one would give her. No one would spare sweet and gentle Dany. "Sirius, you need to wake up, okay? Can you do that?" She'd be better off dead than being hurt like this. He was going to lose his mind if it kept going. "Come on, wake up. Will you come back to us?" Someone touched his face very gently and he suddenly gasped and looked around, sitting up. Dany was standing over him in her pajamas and Rhea was standing in the corner with Dorea and Charlie. He was at the Potters home and everything was fine.

"Dany? Why is everyone in here?" He asked and looked around. She sighed and glanced at her mom.

"We'll go keep James company outside in the hallway." Rhea said and they all left. Dany sat down on the edge of his bed. She looked like she wanted to touch him, but held off.

"What do you remember?" She asked gently.

"Nothing…I went to sleep and then I'm having people telling me to wake up. Why? What happened?" He lied and she looked like she wasn't enjoying this at all.

"You woke my mom up and she got us all up too…it's just, well—you were having a nightmare, I think. You were screaming." She said quietly. He could still hear his girlfriend, who was actually perfectly safe, screaming.

"What? No way." He said and she nodded.

"Tragically, yes. James tried to get you up first and you kind of…hit him." She said quietly. "He came and got me and I finally was able to get you up. I understand that you almost just died and that this is the first night you haven't been on any medication and there's going to be residual damage up in your head; even with all of that said, I think that you need to talk to someone about it because that wasn't normal." She said and looked incredibly worried. "You need to talk this out with someone sometime soon." He nodded, having no intentions of sharing. Her eyes softened even more, if that was possible. Dorea poked her head in.

"Is everything okay?" She asked and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, you lot can go to bed or do whatever." He said and she nodded before vanishing for a second and returning with the rest of the people residing in the house currently. Dany turned around to look at James. He had a black eye.

"That looks like it stings." She snickered and James flipped her off. Dorea scolded her son for the obscene hand gesture. Rhea suppressed a smile at that, but Sirius didn't miss that she looked just as concerned as her daughter did. They both had doe eyes that became giant when they were upset, scared, or worried. Despite the different colors, they still had the same look in them. They were worried as hell.

"Alright, well I think we can go back to bed." Dorea said and Sirius nodded. People started to trickle out of the room and Dany paused before she stood and kissed the top of his head.

"It's okay. We're safe here." She whispered into his hair and he was sure that no one else left in the room had heard. She stood and walked out of the door that her mom was holding for her. James smiled at him quickly before closing the door behind him. Fuck.

Sirius didn't sleep the rest of the night. He lay in bed all night and couldn't stop the stupid nightmare from replaying in his head again and again. He got out of bed relatively early the following morning and Dorea was in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

"Good morning." She said with a smile. "There's more, if you want some." She said and he shook his head.

"I'm fine, thanks though…Dorea, about last night, I'm really sorry—"

"Don't be, there's nothing you can do about it; it's nothing more or less than we all expected." She said kindly. Suddenly, the front door audibly opened.

"I'm back and not dead!" Sirius heard Dany say from the entryway. She walked into the kitchen in a pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra, barefoot. "Oh awesome, there's coffee." She said and went for a mug.

"Danilynn, go get water. You have to be dehydrated after that. And would it kill you to wear more clothing when you run?" Dorea said and Dany rolled her eyes before getting a glass of water.

"Morning, Sirius." She said as she leaned up against the counter.

"Morning. I see that you're being athletic and ambitious this morning." He observed and she shrugged. She was absolutely dripping sweat and was still slightly out of breath.

"I guess. It's more habit now than anything." She said and he nodded. God, he missed being able to be physically active and it hadn't even been a week.

"I guess…" He trailed off and there were footsteps on the stairs.

"Good morning, Mom." Dany said loudly before Rhea walked around the corner.

"Good morning, Sweetie. Why are you almost naked?" She asked and Dany shrugged.

"Because I sweat when I run and I sweat less in fewer articles of clothing." She said and her mother inspected her.

"You could have fooled me; you're making a puddle on the floor as it is. Go shower." She said and Dany shrugged before walking off. Dany apparently had time to shower and come back before James or Charlie got up, because that's exactly what happened. She walked back downstairs in sweatpants and a tank top, with her hair in a high bun, before there were signs of life from the other men in the house.

"Sirius, dear do you want breakfast?" Dorea asked and Sirius shrugged.

"I'm fine, Dorea; really don't worry about it." Rhea snickered.

"She wasn't really asking. You're going to be force-fed, even if you're not hungry." Dany's mother said knowingly. Dany laughed with a shrug.

"Momma Potter takes her children's health very seriously." Dany said with a somber look on her face. Sirius rolled his eyes as an owl tapped on the glass of the kitchen window. Rhea walked over and took the newspaper from the owl before paying it. She skimmed the front few pages before she handed it to her daughter. Dany's eyes flicked over the headlines. "Congratulations on being impeccably dressed, Mom. Really, apparently your fashion sense is 'simply flawless'. I should let you dress me more." She continued to flip through. "Oh and it appears that Dad's 'looking less like the youthful and optimistic man that was sworn into office twenty years ago'. That could be because we're fighting a war." She said distastefully.

"Anything worthwhile?" Dorea asked.

"Nah, it's just the usual garbage for the most part; there's some in there about the war, but it's nothing we all don't already know, obviously." She said and everyone went back to what they were doing. Dorea put a plate of eggs in front of Sirius and watched him sternly.

"You finish your meal, Sirius Black." She said and Dany, who was seated next to him, snickered.

"Dorea—"

"I don't want to hear it, young man." Dany laughed and tried to turn it into a cough quickly. Dorea caught her anyways. "Hush, Danilynn. The boy needs to eat." She reprimanded her and Dany shrugged.

"If you don't watch it, I'll start force feeding you too." Rhea said.

"Rhea leave your daughter be. Now, Sirius Black why haven't you finished your eggs?" It was going to be a long four days.

* * *

Dany woke up the morning back from Spring Break and she momentarily thought she was going to throw up at the thought of walking into the Great Hall in front of the entire school, teachers included, holding hands with Sirius. Not that it was his fault and it really had nothing to do with him actually; she was happy and excited, but she knew what people said about his girlfriends. She pulled herself out of bed and got dressed to go running. She walked downstairs and he was waiting.

"Hey. Ready?" He said and she nodded silently as they walked out of the common room. She didn't know where this was coming from. She was judged all the time. Her peers judged her, her parents' friends judged her, the general public judged her, but she found the upcoming spread of the news they were dating much more nerve-wracking. Before they made it out of the castle he stopped her. "Dan…what's up?" He observed and she shook her head.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just agonizing over something I can't change. Let's go; you know Michelle's orders, Sirius. Take it easy." She said and Sirius rolled his eyes. His form of exercise involved pain by definition so he was becoming increasingly frustrated with his semi-invalid status. He was also becoming frustrated with his girlfriend for making him slow down and go about half his normal pace. He apparently hadn't expected her to take Michelle's warnings to heart. She had heard what Michelle had said loud and clear and she wasn't about ready to enable her boyfriend to send himself back to the hospital.

"Yeah, yeah I know that I'm not competent to run without breaking another bone. I'll go slow." He said sarcastically and Dany shook her head.

"That's not it at all. You're not completely back to 100% and no one wants to see you get hurt. You didn't see yourself; when I walked into that room I barely recognized you. You were damn well almost dead and not even magic can fix all of that in less than a week. You're still on the mend." Dany told him and he sighed and started to, weirdly enough, walk. She followed him and was quite unsure as to why exactly he was walking. "Why are we walking and not at least jogging?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to walk and then you're going to tell me what it is that you're angsting over because you clearly are." He said and she laughed for a second.

"I don't think 'angsting' is a word."

"It is now. But actually, what's up?" He asked and she sighed as they started to slowly walk the way they usually ran.

"I think it's easier to let people pass judgment when you don't know it's coming, is all." She said, more to herself; she realized that this was exactly what had been bothering her. The anticipation of the inevitable was killing her.

"Alright…would you care to elaborate on how that applies to your life?" He asked and she seriously considered saying no, but had a change of heart; he meant well, that much was obvious, he just didn't know what he was trying to coax out.

"Yeah…I don't think you've ever really paid attention to what people say about your, um, relationships have you?" She asked and he shook his head. Typical. "Well, there are always some not very charitable things said and I can't particularly say that I'm looking forward to it." She said gently.

"That's what this is about? About rumors and bitchy girls?" He asked disbelievingly. It sounded dumb out loud even to her and they were her problems.

"Yeah…it's part of the job description though, I knew that when I signed up." She said with a shrug. "I just don't have to enjoy it."

"Girls are bitches." He observed and Dany nodded in agreement. Girls were definitely bitches.

"Yeah, no kidding. That's it though, I'm just not looking forward to it is all, it's kind of freaking me out to be honest." She admitted and wondered why she had actually willingly given that confession. She blamed a combination of her trust in her boyfriend and her generally abysmal skill of keeping things from him.

"There's nothing I can do about it, is there?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No, there's nothing you can do but thanks for the thought. I'll just have to deal; I'm pretty good at dealing with nasty rumors and criticism but I think that waiting for it is the agonizing part." She said and he nodded, checking the time.

"We should start heading back." He said and she nodded in agreement and they turned around, continuing the lazy pace that Dany was quite glad that they had taken with her boyfriend's still tender bones and wounds.

"I didn't know that they were so mean." He said quietly and she shrugged.

"Yeah, well I can't say that I've been a saint about your girlfriends either so I'm not really in a position to talk…it's different being on the receiving end though, I suppose." She said and he looked quite sorry for her.

"Dan, if you want to keep this quiet to avoid all of that I'm okay with it. I mean don't get me wrong it wouldn't be my favorite thing—I'd actually rather hate it—but I'd do it, if that's what you wanted." He offered and she smiled but shook her head.

"No…it's a nice offer but I'm tired of living my life trying to avoid bad press. I think it's time that I finally did what I wanted without worrying about what other people think. Besides, I'd like to take this opportunity to publically take you off the market." She said and he laughed as they walked back into the castle.

"I'm definitely off the market." He said. They spent the rest of the walk to Gryffindor Tower in silence, both of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Once they reached the stairs up to the separate rooms, Sirius kissed her quickly before he went upstairs to change. Dany walked up her stairs and opened the room to see that everyone else was already awake. Dany checked the time. It was the same time she always came back and they were never awake. Ever.

Dany started to get ready and Lily held up a pair of heels hopefully. Dany shook her head and Lily looked defeated.

"Sorry, Lils but I'm not doing anything weird to myself today. It's a normal day, for the most part." Dany said and Lily grinned.

"Except for the fact that when we go to Transfiguration, you and Sirius will be holding hands. You know I haven't really seen this relationship and from what James says it's pretty adorable so I'm excited to see it for myself." Lily commented as she adjusted her tie. Dany rolled her eyes sarcastically as she tried to do her hair. It was too frizzy to leave down and too unruly for even a ponytail.

"Yeah, it's going to be so exciting, I can't wait to be stared at all day…hey can you do something my hair to de-frizz it or something? It's not cooperating with me at all today." Dany said and Lily waved her wand at her friend and her hair lost almost all of its frizz. "Thanks." She said and decided just to leave it down. She put on her shoes and just as Marlene and Alice both walked out of the bathroom, apparently having settled the quarrel about the shower. The four girls walked downstairs, talking about whether or not Matilda Bulstrode was actually hooking up with Lucius Malfoy.

"Look, I think it's possible." Marlene was saying, defending her position.

"I'm just saying that a pureblooded prick like Malfoy would be way pickier about what kind of girl he sleeps with." Lily countered and Alice nodded.

"He's way too vain of a guy to ever consider…being with someone who, well, looks like her." Alice said with a shrug and the other girls laughed as they stood around waiting for the guys.

"Wow Al, tell us how you really feel. But I'm kind of with them on this though, Marles…he's way too much of a holier-than-thou Pureblood supremacist to ever really get with someone who 'wasn't worthy of him'." Dany commented.

"Wow that's really nice commentary, Dan. I didn't know that's how you really felt about Purebloods. What does that make me?" Sirius said dryly from behind her. She turned around and laughed.

"Eh, now you know. And it's really only Slytherins that I have it out for." She said and she felt Lily's eyes on her back. "Lils, I don't know what you're waiting for but I promise you that nothing exciting's going to happen so please stop burning holes into the back of my head." She said airily and everyone laughed. Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on doing anything super romantic right now so you can give it up, Lily." He said and Dany turned around and saw Lily's face turn red at being called out.

"Hey, be nice to her; she's just a little bit of a hopeless romantic at heart." Dany said and Marlene and Alice nodded in agreement. The rest of the guys showed up moments later and James had a grin on his face that reeked of trouble.

"Hey guys. So I don't think I ever got to tell you the story of how Dany kiss—" He cut off as Sirius put a hand over his best friend's mouth and Dany felt her mouth open to protest. James looked scandalized. Sirius retracted his hand quickly, looking like he wanted to smack his friend.

"Ow! He bit me! Look at this!" He said and James smiled victoriously. Sirius held up his hand and Dany inspected it. He had really bit him. It looked like it was on the verge of bleeding.

"James Potter did you give him rabies?" She asked him, "So help me if you gave him rabies. He just got out of the hospital." She said.

"I'm not rabid, Danilynn. Thank you for being as insulting as possible, by the way." He said and Dany rolled her eyes. "But anyways, back to what I was saying…"

"James, I don't really think this is the time or place for that riveting story. So can we all move it along to breakfast?" Dany said quickly and James looked affronted, as if she had personally offended him.

"I'm sure that all of these hopeless romantic girls would love to hear what I walked in on when Padfoot was in the hospital." He teased and Dany tried to grab for his ear. He ducked her hand and he continued to laugh. All three of the other girls looked intrigued. Sirius had apparently learned his lesson and was simply letting it happen, lest James bite his other hand.

"I'm sure we would. What exactly did you walk in on James?" Marlene said keenly and James raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Well, you see me and my parents were out of the room for a while, it doesn't really matter why to be honest, and when I go back—"

"Oh my God." Dany said and put her head in her hand.

"Oh hush, Danilynn. Now as I was saying, I walk back into the room and she's kissing this one where he is in his bloody hospital bed." James said and everyone's eyes redirected to Dany and Sirius, where they were standing next to each other, looking uncomfortable. Dany wanted to crawl under a rock it was so awkward.

"Thank you for telling us James." Lily said and Dany knew she was done for.

* * *

Lily was the most traditional teenage girl in the world when it came to her friends' love lives and she wore the label proudly. She had seen how bruised and bloody Sirius had been when he had been laid up and from what little Dany had said about them getting together it had been very abrupt, verging on accidental.

"So now that we've heard that amazing tale of that time we kissed in a hospital, can we please go to breakfast? I'm starving." Dany said quickly and this time everyone nodded in agreement. The group slowly moved out of the common room and James fell back to talk to her.

"So we've finally done it." He said quietly and Lily nodded slightly.

"It only took all of us three years. It's about damn time." She said.

"It's really something to see. God, you should have been there; she's just agonizing over him being hurt, about how she's responsible for what happened to him, when he finally yells that there was nothing she could have done because he was already in love with her. She obviously had no idea what the hell he was talking about and they both fess up that they've been in love with each other since they were like thirteen and she just…kissed him. That's when I made my presence known." James said quietly and Lily felt her heart melt.

"Are they right behind us?" She asked quietly and James nodded.

"Yup."

"Alright, on three we're going to turn around and catch them holding hands. One…two…three." Lily said quickly and they both turned around to see Sirius and Dany walking a few feet behind them, talking and laughing, with their hands intertwined. Dany looked up from where she was looking over at her boyfriend and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you two?" She said dryly and Lily smiled. She noticed that even though Dany had looked away from him, Sirius was still looking at her like she hung the moon. Lily liked Sirius, she considered him a good friend, but she had to admit that she was also a little scared of him. Despite her mild fear that she knew Marlene and Alice shared to a much more extensive degree, she was also very positive—looking at him now—that if anyone had nothing to fear from him, it was Dany.

"Nothing, nothing just trying to catch you two in a couple-y moment." Lily responded and Dany laughed.

"You're not going to let this go until something really dramatic happens, are you?" Sirius asked her, looking like he was trying really hard not to laugh.

"I'm going to keep watching until something more than hand holding happens. So get used to it, you two." She said smartly and Sirius shook his head slightly as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"This is just ridiculous." He said and grabbed Dany's waist to turn her towards him and kissed her. She was clearly taken off guard, but kissed him back anyways, having to stand on her toes due to her massive disadvantage in height.

And he really kissed her too, Lily thought to herself. It wasn't some casual snog that she used to see over her breakfast all the damn time. It was personal, so personal that it made her uncomfortable to watch and was verging on intimate. Dany put her hands on the back of his neck and his hands were gently on her waist and then it was over. Sirius turned back around to Lily and smirked. "There's your proof, Evans." He said and Dany laughed at the expression Lily was sure was on her face. Marlene, Alice, Frank, Peter, Remus, and James were all staring too and looked like someone had hit them over the head.

Dany and Sirius rejoined hands and brushed by their shocked friends. Lily saw that her friend's cheeks were slightly flushed but she was still smiling a little anyways. Slowly everyone started to follow them towards the Great Hall and all the girls looked at each other like they weren't sure what had just happened. James fell back into step with the girls.

"I personally think that girlfriend eleven will be the last one he ever has." He said and all three girls looked at him sharply.

"You don't mean that he…" Marlene trailed off and James shrugged.

"Maybe not in a year, maybe not in a decade, but I'd put money on it." James whispered. Suddenly, they caught up to Dany and Sirius, who had been ahead of them by a bit because it had taken everyone else a while to get over the fact that he had just kissed her so unexpectedly in a corridor. They were stopped just before the Great Hall. He was saying something to her and she was shaking her head. Lily heard part of what she was saying.

"…It's fine. I don't want to have to hide from the entire bloody school. Besides, I know that you don't either." Lily supposed that Sirius had been filled in on the delights that his exes always were to his current girlfriend and had offered to keep their relationship private to protect her from them. It sounded like he didn't particularly enjoy the idea but would do it if that were what she asked of him. He nodded and she nodded too before they walked into the Great Hall, still holding hands. Everyone else followed them and at first it looked like every other day when they walked in; they were just a group of kids coming down to eat breakfast. Except people started to notice their hands were locked and Lily started to hear the whispers.

"First Harris, now Black; the girl gets around…I'll give it a month, that's being generous…what a bitch…three weeks…they'll be done before you know it…this has to be a joke…is he really fucking the Minister's daughter? I bet Daddy won't be too happy about that…" And on it went. Lily didn't miss the nasty look Sirius gave a few of the guys that were talking about his girlfriend in a less than savory way. Soon they all sat down and Lily sat on the side of Dany that Sirius wasn't on. He looked at her gratefully for occupying the seat. She suspected that she and Sirius hadn't been the only ones to hear all of that, judging by the glazed over look on Dany's face; she had heard a substantial amount too. Lily recognized that plastic expression on her best friend's face. She wasn't feeling because she wasn't letting herself, she was putting everything away and pretending that she couldn't feel a damn thing. Pretend, pretend, pretend.

"Alright, well I think that could have gone worse. It's definitely been worse before." Marlene said optimistically and everyone nodded. That was the damn truth; that was middle-of-the-road as far as talk went about Sirius' girlfriends. "So Sirius, I think I'm going to just slowly go down your list of ex-girlfriends and rain hell down upon their lives. I hope you don't mind." She said cheerily and Sirius nodded.

"Please do." He said shortly and Dany shook her head.

"It's nothing more or less than I expected; they'll get bored after a few days. Now, let's get on with our day, yeah?" She said and Lily could see that she was less than thrilled with all of this but slowly the mask of no emotion was falling away and she was going back to her normal self. Everyone nodded and started eating.

"So boys, what are the odds we're bringing home the cup this year?" Alice asked and James and Sirius both perked up.

"They're 100%, Prewett. I mean we're undefeated three years in a row and we've got the best team that Gryffindor's had in a damn long time" James said and Sirius nodded.

"Not to mention that our Seeker is even better than last year. She's been working her ass off every practice and is breaking record times catching the Snitch. Not to mention that there's us." Sirius added and Alice nodded.

"Yeah, look at this kid's muscles. Best beater we've had in living memory." James added, gesturing to his best friend. Sirius grinned but still flicked some oatmeal at his friend.

"Good, I really want to see McGonagall cry again this year. I think it gets funnier every time it happens." Lily mused and everyone laughed in agreement.

"What did she cry into last year? Was it someone's poster? I know Third Year she used a tie that some kid had around his head to mop up her tears." Dany laughed and everyone laughed again. Every year, the Head of House would start crying if they won the cup and every year she'd sob into a different, completely random object.

"Yeah, yeah it was some Second Year's poster." Remus said.

"I was no more than ten feet away when it happened. It was actually kind of terrifying, not going to lie. It's much funnier when you're far away." Frank mentioned and everyone chuckled again at the truth behind that statement. Lily saw Marlene watching the couple next to her and Lily followed her line of sight to see the undeniable smile on her best friend's face.

* * *

Sirius was worried about Dany but she could handle herself, that much he was sure of, and if she said she could take it then he trusted her to know herself. That didn't make him any happier when he heard the whispers that he had never bothered to pay attention to before and just like Dany had told him this morning, they were less than friendly and complimentary.

They had sat down at the table and soon the talk quieted and moved to other topics around the Great Hall. As breakfast passed, he noticed more and more people were starting to look at him curiously, not invasive or judging but just questioning. Dany was happily talking to Lily and Marlene next to him and looked pretty wrapped up in what she was doing so he caught James' attention.

"Why are people looking over here?" He said quietly and James looked around to see the same inquisitive stares. He shrugged and Remus laughed.

"Because you openly just admitted that you're dating but you're not snogging her…you've kind of been snogging girls over breakfast since you were fourteen." The werewolf said quietly and Sirius thought about it. That was actually true, except he had no inclination to snog Dany in front of the entire school. The only thing that gave away that they were dating was that they were sitting a little too close and if you looked close enough, they were holding hands under the table. He'd never really thought about it before, breakfast had always just been some free time that he could spend eating and snogging at the same time. But that felt more…private now.

"Please don't suck my sister's face off right in front of me, mate. This morning was enough." James said and Sirius shook his head.

"I'm not planning on it, James. Believe me, you'll be nice and far away when that happens. I can't particularly say that either of us want an audience." Sirius said and James looked relieved. Suddenly, the girls all stood up and Lily glanced at Sirius, amused. He had been taken by surprise when Dany's hand had vanished suddenly.

"Relax, we're just going to the bathroom before class…we'll see you boys in there and then you can have your girlfriend back." The redhead said and all four of them departed, talking to each other.

"We should probably get to class…it's got to be almost time." Remus said and the guys started to leave the Great Hall, about five minutes behind the girls. They ran into the girls a few minutes away from McGonagall's classroom and Lily and Dany were talking about something that Lily seemed very unimpressed with.

"Honestly Lillian, if I got upset every time someone said something nasty about me, I'd never get out of bed." Dany was saying.

"Who's saying nasty things?" James interrupted and they both turned around. Dany smiled at Sirius and he grinned back but pointedly looked at Lily, wanting to know what had happened. She shook her head and took his hand as they walked off towards class.

"Dan…what's up?" He asked and she looked like she was going to tell him to leave it alone but she didn't tell him off, she told him what had happened instead.

"Your ex-girlfriends decided to have a nice, and loud might I add, talk in the bathroom. It was delightful; I don't think I've ever been called so many insulting names in such a small span of time within earshot. Oh, and apparently we're destined to breakup within the next two to five weeks, that varies on who you talk to, and I'm also a raging whore that's keeping you interested because you have a fetish for my hair and family money. I didn't know you felt that way about my financial standing or hair." She said casually and he raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously? They actually said that?" He asked and she nodded.

"Oh yeah, they actually said that, I think a couple of them even made eye-contact with me. There's more but why relive the past, you know? I know you heard what I was telling Lily and I was being honest; if I got insulted every time someone said something mean or criticized me, I'd never leave my bed, let alone my house." She said and he felt her shoulder bump into his arm accidentally; she was so short that her shoulder was only half way up his upper arm. He had a whopping fourteen inches on her and even though she made up for her height with a big personality, she still she looked downright tiny to him most of the time, if he was being honest.

"As much as I admire the spirit behind that statement, I can't particularly say that I care for all of the talk." He said and she shrugged.

"Join the club." She laughed.

* * *

About two weeks after school resumed, Dany and Sirius were no longer the talk of the castle and so they had relaxed on the "friends plus handholding" line that they had originally taken to keep gossip at a minimum. When they sat in the common room now he'd put his arm around her and she'd lean into his shoulder and James had caught him a couple of times refusing to give her books back to her between classes. He was literally carrying her books, despite the staunch "women are equal to men" position that he was well aware that she lived by. James found this rather ironic seeing that Sirius had spent his entire dating life claiming "honestly, they can open doors for themselves". James was pretty sure that he had never seen Dany smile and laugh more than she had in the last three weeks.

"So, I think we've got pretty good chances at the cup." James said and Sirius nodded as they walked towards the common room from Quidditch practice.

"No doubt…not to mention that if we lost to Slytherin in the final game, Toby would probably burst an artery or try to walk off of the Astronomy Tower or something." Sirius responded and rolled a shoulder. "Damn, if he yells at me to hit the bludgers harder for much longer, my shoulder's going to come out of its socket. It already throbs at random times." He added on and James knew what he was talking about. Sirius was a pretty strong guy but what his muscles didn't protest to (and they were protesting quite a bit), his joints did. Toby was being unapologetically brutal on his fellow beater and he had good reason. Sirius was set to guard their seeker, which was the most dangerous position Toby could put him in. This was something Sirius had yet to tell Dany.

James was pretty sure it was because he thought she was going to freak out. She probably was going to freak out.

"I don't know what to tell you man." He said as they entered through the portrait hole. Marlene was writing something from where she was seated on the ground and Dany was reading quietly on the couch. Neither of them looked up when they walked in, clearly either not paying attention or too wrapped up in what they were doing. "Hello, ladies." James said and they both looked up and smiled.

"Hey, guys. How was practice?" Marlene asked and they both shrugged. Dany looked at her boyfriend much more critically than she just had been.

"Fine, Marlene. Thanks for asking." James said and the blonde motioned them over. James sat down in an armchair and Sirius sat down next to his girlfriend. Dany didn't seem to be overly thrilled with something but didn't say anything about it.

"You smell." She observed and Sirius laughed.

"That's what happens when Toby tries to run you into the ground." He said.

"So, that's why your shoulder's hurt? Because Toby tried to run you into the ground." She asked casually and James fought the urge to laugh. She always knew. Marlene giggled a little. "It's not dislocated is it? Jesus, Sirius if you tried to fix it on your own, I'm going to—"

"Dan. Dany, it's fine. It's just…strained a bit. Practice has been pretty tough with the game coming up this weekend and Toby's what many would call 'intense' about Quidditch." He said and Dany nodded, clearly not trusting the answer she didn't see as the complete truth.

"Okay…if you're sure it's fine." She said and he nodded. "Then go shower; you smell and I don't need to smell too." He laughed before kissing her quickly and leaving. Marlene had been watching the entire thing carefully.

"As cute as this is, you think he's hiding something don't you?" Marlene said.

"Playing Slytherin isn't exactly a new development and he's never been hurt like this before. Whatever, I guess…it's his life." She definitely knew something was up. Marlene looked down at her watch.

"Damn, it's later than I thought. I'm going to head upstairs, Dan." She said.

"Okay. Goodnight, Marles." Dany said and turned at James once Marlene had left. "Why's Toby running him ragged?" She asked, leaning forward on her elbows.

"He told you the truth, Dan. We're playing Slytherin and they're aggressive. They hit hard and they take illegal shots. Toby just wants to make sure that he can do his job to the best of his ability. We're defenseless if he isn't on top of his game and you know it." Dany looked at him carefully and nodded.

"If you insist. So, how was practice for you? How are our chances looking?" She asked, putting down her book completely.

"Well, I'm incredible as we all know and we're looking really good for the Cup. You all should prepare your cameras for McGonagall's tears." Dany laughed.

"I think if you lost, she'd cry out of devastation…that would be really depressing, actually. It's probably like watching a puppy cry." She said and James agreed with that. It struck him suddenly, how different she was in this relationship than the last. Before, it had been all about Brady but now she was still the same girl he had grown up with and had gone to school with for the past five years. Sirius wasn't taking over her life like Brady had, he was enhancing it and James didn't think he had ever been so glad about something. Just as James thought this, Sirius came back downstairs. Dany turned around and smiled.

"Alright, now that I don't smell, am I allowed near you?" He asked and she laughed before nodding. He sat down on the couch next to her far too close for a relationship that was anything but romantic. James cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go shower too." He said and they both nodded. He paused at the top of the stairs, just out of their range of sight.

"I don't know how you get up every day. Toby runs a dictatorship." Dany.

"I don't know how I do it either, honestly. Dan, there's something we need to talk about; don't freak out, it's just about the game." He added on and James left to actually shower. Remus was in the room.

"Hey. Padfoot down with his new favorite person?" He asked. James nodded.

"Please. She's been his favorite person for a long time—there's nothing new about it. He's breaking the news that he's guarding Caroline." James said.

"I take it that's why you left?" James nodded. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to be there for that either. Dany's possessive and protective of all of her friends and she's always been more extreme with him." Remus said and James made a sound of agreement as he walked into the bathroom.

James walked back downstairs after a bit, assuming that the common room would be empty. It wasn't. Dany's head was visible from behind and she had clearly gone back to reading. James wondered where Sirius had gone, seeing that he definitely wasn't in their room. James walked over to where she was reading and it appeared that Sirius was quite soundly asleep with his head in Dany's lap as she read, holding the book in a way that wouldn't disturb him.

"Hi, James." She whispered without looking up.

"Aw, I can feel my heart melting from over here." She flipped him off before setting her book down, trying to disturb Sirius as little as possible.

"He told me about the game." She said and James nodded.

"I figured. What do you think?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I don't particularly care for it but there's nothing I can do. It's not my job to keep him responsible, I'd just rather not see him in a hospital again." It struck James that even though they had been dating for only three weeks, it seemed like they had been together forever, probably because they had been in love for so long.

"I know. I don't like it either, but he agreed; he could have said no but he didn't. He's the best we've got and he knows it. Someone has to protect Caroline." She nodded as she ran a hand through Sirius' hair gently, watching him sleep.

"I just wish that someone was up there to protect him." She said softly. James looked down at Sirius too. He never saw Sirius sleep—they kept their bed curtains closed at night after all. He looked much more vulnerable than when he was awake; for once, he looked like someone that needed to be protected.

"I know you do. I'm going to go to bed, Dan. See you tomorrow." He said and she nodded before picking up her book and resuming where she had left off.

* * *

"Did you see the announcement?" Marlene asked Dany, Lily, and Alice as she sat down at their table in the library the following Monday. All three girls shook their heads. "There's going to be a Spring Dance!" She squealed. Madam Pince shushed her loudly. Marlene waved a hand apologetically at her.

"What?" Dany whispered.

"The Head Boy and Girl instated it this year for some reason. I think it's because everyone's so worried over the war and everyone had so much fun at the Yule Ball—they thought that maybe this would have a similar effect." Lily said and Marlene looked at her accusingly.

"You knew about this?"

"I forgot. I was more concerned about OWLs than dances." Lily hissed so she didn't draw attention from Madam Pince, gesturing to the book in front of her. "I'll tell you now that party dresses are appropriate, none of that floor-length dress business—it's going to be out on the grounds." She added and Dany actually thought that this was a lovely idea, but—after exchanging a look with Alice—decided that she didn't want to get between Marlene and Lily right now.

"When is it, Marles?" Alice asked, hoping to derail this before it started.

"It's next Saturday." Marlene said. "We can go into Hogsmeade and get dresses this weekend." She added. Lily and Alice nodded. "You in, Dan?" Marlene asked, noticing her friend's silence on the topic.

"Oh, um I already have plans for Hogsmeade, you three." She said, actually feeling quite bad she wouldn't be able to dress shop with them. "I mean this is the first trip since Spring Break and—"

"You and Sirius haven't actually been on a date yet." Lily finished and Dany nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I'd normally just tell him that I'd meet him later at the Three Broomsticks or something but not on our first date." She said and the three girls nodded in understanding.

"Well obviously. What are you going to do about a dress then?" Lily asked.

"I think I already have something in my closet, but if not I'll just have James sneak me into Hogsmeade and I can go shopping that way." She said and the other girls seemed to accept this. "If we decide to call it a day early, I'll come find you though. I'd hate to miss it completely."

* * *

Sirius and Dany didn't call it an early day. As a matter of fact, they missed the last carriage up to the castle from the town and were forced to walk—which neither of them minded in the least, despite it being almost an hour-long walk.

"I can't believe that you made me go take a painting class." Sirius groaned and Dany laughed.

"You had fun, don't deny it—and I didn't make you, the magic instructor lady did." She laughed. They had been poking through shops that neither of them had ever been in and had accidentally ended up in a painting studio and then before either of them knew it, they were trying to paint their renditions the still life of the bowl of fruit in front of them.

"Okay, I had fun." He consented. "I'm really terrible though. Next time, can it not be painting?"

"We're both really bad. I wouldn't really worry about that part." Dany laughed, looking down at where they were holding hands. Their hands were covered in paint and at one point Dany had gotten bored and had finger-painted a purple smiley face onto Sirius' forearm, which led to him smearing yellow paint down one of her thighs. "Next time, we'll be sure to accidentally walk into somewhere where the woman in charge doesn't have magical powers of persuasion. Besides, would you have thought it was fun if we were really good?"

"Probably not. We would have been sitting around twirling our moustaches and trying to interpret the fruit as symbols of the universe or something. I had much more fun painting your leg." Sirius said and Dany laughed. "Besides, then I would have felt obligated to keep those unfortunate renditions of fruit."

"God, they were so bad, weren't they?" Dany laughed again, shaking her head.

"What do you think the odds are that we're the last people back?" He asked as they neared the castle.

"About 80%. Actually—judging by the look on Flitch's face, I'm going to say 100%." Dany said, looking at the caretaker waiting at the open door with Professor Flitwick. They both looked less than pleased. "Evening, Professor." Dany said, hoping that they weren't going to get into trouble for missing the carriages.

"Professor Flitwick." Sirius said, both of them trying to look charming. "I take it we're the last ones back?"

"That would be an understatement, Black. Explain." He said, pointedly looking at both of them.

"We missed the carriages back—we barely missed the last one and it takes quite a while to walk back from town. We're both really sorry, Professor." Dany said immediately. "It won't ever happen again." She added, trying to look deeply remorseful. "We didn't mean to cause you any problems and I know it was really irresponsible with the war going on, but time just kind of slipped away—you know how first dates are, I'm sure." She looked up from her feet to look at Flitwick and his face had softened. She smiled at him a little hopefully.

"Take this as a warning, you two. It happens again, you're both in detention and done with Hogsmeade trips for the year. I suggest going to get something to eat from the Great Hall." Flitwick said, gesturing inside. Flitch looked outraged, but Dany didn't miss the small unmistakable smile on Flitwick's face.

"That was bloody brilliant. We should have a pranking date." Sirius said as they left the professor's hearing range.

"A pranking date?" She asked skeptically.

"Well, yeah—we prank people and then just call it a date." He said with a shrug and she laughed.

"Oh no. I only use my powers of manipulation for good. And to avoid detention." Dany said. "We really should eat though—it's almost eight. No wonder Flitwick was pissed—we were supposed to be back by seven. Anyways, I'm starved."

"Either we can go to the Great Hall or I can take you to the Kitchens. Which is it, Masters?" Sirius asked and she raised an eyebrow.

"Kitchens, please. Pasta sounds so good right now. Maybe ravioli." Dany sighed and Sirius chuckled as they started to walk down to the kitchens. "I do love Italian food."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said as they approached the portrait. "Oh God. Not another bowl of fruit." He groaned. For some reason, that sent Dany into hysterics, clutching her stomach she was laughing so hard. It was just too perfect.

"Go on. Ti—tick—tickle the—tickle the pear, Sirius." She gasped through her laughter, trying to smother them with her hand. "Please tickle the pear." She continued to giggle as he rolled his eyes and opened up the door to the Kitchens, where house elves were busy cooking.

"Come on, Dan—before you get us caught." He laughed, giving her a hand over the step up and into the Kitchen, closing the door behind them. Dany vaguely heard him say something about ravioli to an elf as he sat his hysterically laughing girlfriend at a table. A minute later, Dany calmed down enough to wipe her eyes and stop laughing, despite the fact she still couldn't stop grinning. An elf gave her ravioli a moment later and she thanked her, the elf bowing so enthusiastically she almost banged her own head into the ground. Dany turned to her ravioli after confirming that the elf wasn't concussed.

"This looks fantastic." She moaned and happily started eating. "Bless these elves is all I can say." She said from around her pasta. Not very ladylike for a date, but whatever; it's not like he'd never seen her eat before. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Rhea's not a real culinary genius?" Dany shrugged.

"Okay, I love my mother, but she's too much of a health freak. Everything is low carb and low sodium and I think my father has the corner on black market salt packets because he slips them to me and Rae under the dinner table like there's a never-ending supply of them." She said and Sirius grinned.

"I can see your dad doing that, honestly. I'll be sure to bring my own salt if your parents ever have me over for any kind of meal." He said and she nodded.

"It's like bring your own bottle, but with salt. BYOS." She said and Sirius laughed. "Also, BYOC. Bring your own chocolate. The 'c' could also stand for 'carbs', but it's mainly chocolate."

"Is there anything I don't need to bring then?"

"Salad. We have plenty of that. Enough to feed most of the civilized world." Dany said, thinking about the enormous stockpile of lettuce her mother kept and inwardly shivering.

"I'll be sure to leave my spinach at home then." Sirius said wryly and Dany nodded, setting her fork down. "Done?" Dany nodded. "We should probably head back up to the tower—we got lucky with Flitwick, but twice in one night isn't going to happen." Dany nodded again and they left, the portrait of the fruit sending her into another round of uncontrollable giggles as she told her boyfriend to tickle the pear. He spent the entire time trying not to laugh at her. They entered Gryffindor tower and it was—thankfully—empty. Well, upon first glance.

Lily was anxiously bouncing her leg so much that Marlene eventually reached over and stopped her.

"Lily, I know you're worried, but you're going to drive me insane if you keep doing that." She said and Lily exchanged leg bouncing for nail biting.

"They probably just missed the carriages, girls. We don't need to wait up like this." Remus said and Frank nodded in agreement. "They'll get here when they get here. Besides, if they're too late, the teachers will go looking for them."

Just then, the portrait hole opened and Lily heard someone's giggles coming from the open door. Sirius and Dany walked in and apparently it was Dany that Lily had heard because she looked like she was crying she was laughing so much. Sirius looked like he was trying his damn best not to laugh at her and both of them were covered in paint. It also appeared that neither of them noticed their friends sitting on the floor near the fire.

"No one. That's weird." Dany said, the giggles finally—Lily got the impression that this had been going on for a while—subsiding.

"Oi, we're right here." James said and both of them looked over. "Is that paint?" He asked and both of them looked down at their arms and hands, which were intertwined.

"Um, yes it is." Dany said as if this was the most normal thing on the planet. "I'm glad you know your colors, James." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Why are you covered in paint?"

"Well, that's quite the story. It was really due to a strange turn in events. Really, no one saw it coming." Sirius said as if this explained everything. It didn't explain a thing. "I'm going to get in the shower now because I think I have paint in my hair." He added and left quickly. Remus, Frank, and James all exchanged looks before leaving with him, shrugging to the girls.

"Danilynn, what did you do?" Lily asked as soon as the boys vanished.

"We went on a date, Lily." Dany said, leaning up against the armchair closest to her. "Can't we talk about this once I've gotten all of the paint off of myself?" She asked and Lily and the other girls exchanged looks.

"Alright. Come on, to the shower with you!" Marlene exclaimed, making the other girls laugh as they stood up. Suddenly, Sirius walked back downstairs still covered in paint, but lacking a shirt. It appeared that he had been on his way into the shower and had suddenly remembered something. Dany raised an eyebrow and the other three girls exchanged looks at the appearance of Sirius' abs and chest. Damn.

"Sirius?" Dany asked. "What—?" She started to say, but was cut off by her boyfriend kissing her rather enthusiastically, something she responded to with just as much enthusiasm. Lily, Marlene, and Alice all looked at each other and then returned to watching the couple. Everyone was too startled to even catcall or whistle. Sirius stopped kissing her and Dany blinked in surprise.

"Thanks for the date, Dan." Lily heard him whisper before Sirius kissed her forehead quickly and left again. Dany appeared to have gone into a state of shock she looked so taken off-guard.

"Um…?" Marlene said.

"I have no idea. I think I'll go shower before he comes back down and starts really snogging me in front of you lot." Dany said and they all nodded, heading upstairs. Lily didn't miss the small smile on her best friend's face as she left to go take a shower. It was the same smile that was on her face when Lily saw the white-haired girl crawl into bed that night.

* * *

Sirius woke up that Monday feeling rather good about himself. Saturday—for as much shit as he gave Dany—was a lot of fun and he actually hadn't had that much fun in a really long time. It was nice to just be able to enjoy Dany's company. He was thinking this as he walked downstairs to see his girlfriend sitting downstairs, waiting. Judging by the look on her face, she had been up a while.

"Hey." She said and he smiled. "Right on time."

"That means you were early. Which means that you've been up all night." He said and she raised an eyebrow. Sirius was momentarily concerned that he had gone too far, but she just shrugged as they left the common room.

"Got a letter from Dad last night—there was another raid. It was in Cokeworth." Sirius raised an eyebrow, silently asking what the huge significance was behind a town he'd never heard of. "Sirius, Lily's from Cokeworth—her parents live there." She added and Sirius immediately felt something twisting his stomach.

"What? Are they okay?" He asked and she nodded.

"They're fine, thank God. They weren't on the list of dead, missing, or injured. I've been up all night trying to figure out how to tell Lils. Dad said that he and Mom were going to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Evans about warding their house—maybe even moving somewhere more remote than where they already are." Dany sighed. "I'm just going to have to come out and tell her, I suppose. All I know is that I need the run this morning to clear my head. This is insane." She said as they walked outside.

"Come on, I'll race you." He said and she smiled a little before running off. "I meant fairly, Dan! That's cheating!" He shouted after her, just getting laughter in response.

"Do you know when Frank's going to ask Alice to the dance?" Dany asked as they stopped at their usual spot on the trail. Sirius looked over at her.

"What? They're already dating." He said.

"I know, but Alice really wants him to formally ask her. She's been talking about it a lot lately. Nothing big, but she keeps mentioning it in passing." She explained. "Do you know if he's even going to ask her or is he just assuming?"

"I honestly have no idea. We haven't talked about it, but I can ask for you." Sirius said, fibbing. Dany immediately nodded, smiling.

"Please." She said absently, looking over the lake. "It's kind of silly to worry about something like that—especially for them, I mean they're so compatible and, well, perfect. On a certain level though, I get where she's coming from." Sirius wondered if Dany wanted him to actually ask her to the dance; he had been doing what he knew Frank was doing and had just assumed they'd be going together. He didn't really know and he couldn't exactly ask her because she'd (predictably) say no because they were dating, even if it mattered to her and she just didn't want to make him feel bad for not knowing that. He made a mental note to ask James when they got back to the castle.

"Well, I'll inquire on behalf of Alice. I'll tell him to if he wasn't planning on it." Sirius said and Dany smiled again, pushing hair off of her sweaty forehead.

"Thanks. It'll be a huge weight off of the rest of us if he does. She'll be upset if he doesn't and we'll be the ones dealing with that." She said and checked her watch. "We best be going, huh? Back to the castle that has ears in the walls." Dany added with a sigh and Sirius nodded, racing his girlfriend fair-and-square this time. He won and Dany accepted it with grace, except for the occasional groaning about sore winners and boyfriends. She said goodbye to him and headed up to go shower, leaving Sirius to go up and get ready for the school day. James was up, although the rest of his roommates were apparently still sleeping. James waved sleepily.

"Hey, Prongs?" He asked and James immediately looked alarmed.

"What is it?" He said, fully awake. "What happened?" Sirius shook his head.

"Nothing, nothing. Are they all sleeping?" He asked, gesturing to the rest of the room. James shrugged and waved him into the bathroom, locking the door behind them and casting a silencing charm.

"What?"

"Do you know if Frank is asking Alice to the dance? Dan told me that she really wants him to." Sirius said and James raised an eyebrow.

"That's it? Jesus, Sirius I thought that something was really wrong and—" James said as he went to leave. Sirius pulled him back by his shirt collar. "Oi!"

"Sorry. Do you know the answer?"

"Ask Frank for your bloody self. Is there anything else?" He asked and Sirius didn't say anything. James examined his face critically. "You don't know if you should ask Dan, do you? That's why you wanted to talk in private. You want relationship advice." He said, bemused. "Oh how the tables have turned. Mr. Ten Girlfriends is asking the virgin for help."

"Shut up, James. Actual relationships are a new thing for me so help me out." Sirius said, flipping his friend the bird. James raised an eyebrow. "Please." He added on. James leaned on the counter and sighed, obviously thinking.

"Well, I don't think Dany would be offended per say if you didn't, but it would be a bit underwhelming if you know what I mean. If I was dating her, I'd ask her—there's no harm in it." James said slowly. "You could seem like a real twat if you don't—that's the risk behind just assuming." Sirius nodded, actually listening to James' opinion on women for once. "You've never had to do it before, but it's tough, isn't it? Making a woman happy." He prodded and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"So I should ask her?" James nodded.

"Ask her. Dany has a real soft spot for traditional things like slow dances and formal dates. She'll appreciate it. On the topic of Frank, I have no idea. Ask him about it when he gets up." James said and unlocked the door, removing the silencing charm. Everyone else was up when they walked out.

"Oi, Frank." Sirius said. Frank looked up. "Ask Alice to the dance because she really wants you to." He said and Frank nodded.

"Noted. I was planning on asking her today. How do you know that?"

"Dany." Sirius and James answered simultaneously. Frank rolled his eyes.

"You two are freakishly similar sometimes." He muttered as Remus chuckled in agreement. Sirius rolled his eyes and got into the shower, wondering how he was going to ask his own girlfriend to the dance.

James had said that she liked traditional things so probably nothing too involved, but also nothing too casual like passing her a note in class.

Dany and her friends were already in the common room when the guys walked down and Dany was talking to Alice, who appeared like she was telling Dany something personal, judging by how close they were standing and how quietly they were talking. They both looked up at the appearance of their boyfriends. Sirius quickly kissed Dany and winked when neither Alice nor Frank was looking at them. She smiled and mouthed 'thank you' back at him before they all started to walk down towards the Great Hall.

"How's Lily?" Sirius murmured to Dany and she shrugged.

"Okay, I think. I pulled her aside this morning and just honestly told her what had happened and how we were going to deal with it. She's going to write her parents tonight just to check in with them." She said and he nodded.

"I'm just glad they're okay. Her sister doesn't still live there, does she?" Dany shook her head.

"Petunia lives in Surrey, I'm pretty sure." She said.

"Good. As dreadful as I'm sure she is, she doesn't deserve to die." Sirius said.

"And she is dreadful." Dany muttered and Sirius snorted in amusement. "Where did Frank and Alice go?" She asked randomly, looking around. Sirius looked around as well and sure enough, they were gone.

"I don't know. Maybe he's asking her to the dance. He said he was planning on asking her today anyways." Sirius commented. "I've been spending the last week trying to convince James that he doesn't really want to ask Lily." Dany nodded.

"You're right: he really doesn't want to do that. He might think he does, but he doesn't." She agreed as they walked into the Great Hall. They sat down and not a minute later, Alice came into the Great Hall—her face bright red—and sat down next to Dany. "Hey, Al." She said, gently squeezing Sirius' hand under the table as they already were holding hands. "Everything okay?"

"Frank just asked me to the dance." She gushed and Dany smiled, hugging her with her free arm and asking for details. Sirius was watching her for any kind of giveaway that she might want the same thing when Lily caught his eye. 'Ask her'. Sirius stuck his tongue out. 'I am, so shove off'. Lily nodded approvingly. 'I don't know what to do' he added. Lily smirked before looking over at her best friend, who was obliviously listening to Alice, before shrugging and returning to her food. Well, apparently she wasn't going to help. Marlene was watching with a small smile on her face, shaking her head slightly. 'Don't overcomplicate it' she mouthed and Sirius nodded before going back to his porridge.

"Today, we'll be dueling!" Their Defense professor said cheerily as they all stood around the cleared out classroom. People started murmuring. "Also, I have picked pairs based on skill level—I've placed you with someone close in skill, but not exactly. We do want this class to be over sometime today." A few people laughed. "So, Potter and McKinnon. Lupin and Longbottom. Evans and Prewett. Masters and Black." People started whispering and a couple girls from Hufflepuff gasped. Putting a couple against each other was just cruel, however Sirius doubted that their professor knew they were dating.

After that, Sirius lost interest and was looking over at Dany, wondering if she was planning on wiping the floor with him. Probably. He was tempted to go easy on her because he didn't want to hurt her, but if she suspected that he was holding back on her, she'd bloody murder him. That would cause more problems than him actually beating her.

"Right, so we'll have one pair duel at a time as it's generally a rather large spectacle once you're in your OWL year and beyond. Potter, McKinnon, you can go first." Marlene and James high-fived before standing in the middle of the classroom.

"No hard feelings when I win, yeah McKinnon?" James said. Marlene laughed.

"Kiss my ass, Potter." She retorted before firing a jinx his way, making the entire class break out into laughter.

It was actually quite entertaining to see their friends dueling. James barely beat Marlene—it was an all out war for ten minutes—and Frank overtook Remus at the last second, something everyone was surprised by. Sirius blamed Remus' mercy. There had been at least three different times he could have won, but didn't. Lily and Alice was another duel that quickly turned into war and the two witches were using spells so creative that Sirius was starting to suspect that they were making them up as they went. Lily—at the absolute last second—claimed victory with a grin.

"Black. Masters. You're up." Dany seemed pretty unaffected by this and pulled her wand out before pulling her hair up into a ponytail and walking to the center of the classroom.

"Hey, Sirius? If you let me win, I'll know. And then I'll kick your ass into next week." She said, not bothering to be quiet. People snorted.

"I'm a sore loser, Dan. You really think I'd let someone win?" He asked and she grinned.

"We're about the find out, huh?" She said and shot a hex at him, which he quickly bounced back at her, only for her to duck it with minimal effort. Sirius realized that he had his work cut out for him: she had been receiving lessons from Aurors for most of her life. _Alastor Moody_ had personally trained her. He was fucked.

Twenty-five minutes later, it appeared that everyone was fucked because they were still dueling and Dany was now using spells that Sirius couldn't recognize for the life of him. She had also slipped into non-verbal dueling—probably a result of her training with Moody and Florence, as they didn't learn that in school until next year—which was making his girlfriend increasingly hard to pin down.

The classroom looked like a war zone. Their professor had the other students behind shield charms as they had managed to blow up three desks with deflected spells and had almost hexed out another student's eye accidentally.

"Wrap it up in the next five minutes, you two! Just…please finish it somehow." Their professor yelled, neither of them acknowledging him, busy with each other. Suddenly, Dany completely stopped casting spells and lowered her wand and just stared at him. Then she—of all things—broke out into a huge, brilliant smile. He looked at her, taken by surprise, and that was his mistake.

Before he realized that had happened, Sirius was somehow on the floor and Dany had his wand in her hand. She had jinxed him with a jelly-leg curse and then disarmed him when he had been too distracted by how pretty he thought she was—something she had taken advantage of. People started to whisper and then people started to clap, louder and louder. Dany waved her wand at him and lifted the curse, giving him a hand up and giving him his wand back.

"Sorry about that." She murmured, examining where he had landed face down on the floor, banging his forehead. "Do you think it's going to bruise?"

"Doubtful. I have a thick skull." Sirius joked and she laughed. "Why are they all hiding?" He whispered and Dany looked around. This was the first time that either of them had noticed that the other students were behind shields.

"Masters." Their professor said. "How exactly do you know some of those spells?" Dany's face drained of color.

"Um, well you see…my Godparents are Aurors?" She said it like a question. "I didn't know that we weren't allowed to learn outside of the classroom." She added, much more confidently. "Besides, none of them were fatal."

"I suppose. Twenty points to Gryffindor to both of you. That's some of the best dueling I've ever seen from Fifth Years. Class dismissed. We'll pick up next class." People scrambled for their things and Sirius noticed people looking at his girlfriend much differently than they had. He had heard the whispers about her being the "pretty face" of her family—that the Masters' legendary magical prowess had skipped her—and somehow thought that those whispers were about to stop.

"I can't believe you beat me because you _smiled_." Sirius said as they walked out of class.

"I can't believe it _worked_. I was trying to think of something that would catch you off guard and that was the only thing I could come up with." She said with a shrug. "I know I'm pretty, but try not to get so distracted by it." He snorted.

"I'll do my best. I do believe that this is where I leave you." He said in an overly formal way, making her laugh. "Enjoy Muggle Studies." He added and she nodded, taking her bag from him and kissing him quickly before walking off.

He really needed to do something about the dance. James had said that she likes old-fashioned, traditional things. He idly stood there for a second thinking. Lily walked by and waved as she followed her friend. Sirius waved back before it hit him. Lily. Flowers.

"Prongs, you wouldn't happen to know of anywhere that sells flowers, would you?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to James unannounced, making him jump.

After seeing Dany and Sirius try and rip each other into two, he had been a bit on edge. Only mortal enemies or soul mates could fight like that—so evenly yet so viciously with neither one ever coming out on top. Until Dany lowered her wand, automatically making Sirius do the same, and smiled at him. Then she had kicked his ass, but still.

"Flowers? I think there's a place in Hogsmeade." He asked. "Dany?" Sirius nodded. "Figured. Come on then, let's go." He said, standing up. "Believe me, you should get a second opinion. At least until you understand how relationships work."

"Laugh it up, Potter." He said as James summoned the map and the two started to walk towards one of the passages out of school.

"Oh, I will—don't worry." He said before they slipped into a passage that led to the closet of some random pub. "Flowers, huh?" James said after a while.

"I don't know, mate. I mean you said she liked traditional things and you can't get any more traditional than that." He said and James actually felt a bit bad for him. Sirius didn't know how to treat a woman that was worth his time and he apparently didn't know a damn thing about romance. Despite that, it was obvious that he was really trying to make Dany happy, which James appreciated greatly.

"No, it's actually a really good idea. Dan loves flowers." He said as they quietly walked, suddenly reaching the end of the passage and slipping out of the closet and into the pub.

Sirius looked over at him and smiled a little.

"Thanks, mate."


	25. Dance the Night Away

_It's dance time! Enjoy the cute couple-y moment why you have it! It's my gift to you for all the love I've been getting!_

 _Also, to address one of the reviews, Sirius is going to have a hard time being in a stable and happy relationship because of his past (family and romantically) and he's just learning to trust in a romantic partner (as we'll see next chapter)._

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 _When you looked over your shoulder_  
 _For a minute, I forget that I'm older_  
 _I wanna dance with you right now, oh_  
 _And you look as beautiful as ever_  
 _And I swear that every day you'll get better_  
 _You make me feel this way somehow_

 _~Say You Won't Let Go,_ James Arthur

* * *

James was talking to Dany the next morning before classes when Sirius pulled her away from him. James winked at his mate before telling Dan he wasn't going to wait on them. He made it down to the Great Hall and saw that everyone was already there.

"Hey." Remus said. "Where's Padfoot?"

"With Dan. I think they'll be down soon." He said, not giving anyone details. Poor Padfoot was stressed out enough about this without James spreading word that he was now buying his girlfriend flowers. Remus seemed to accept that and went back to simultaneously reading and eating. It was an art form, honestly.

Dany and Sirius didn't show up to breakfast, but they were both in Charms immediately after. They walked in just before class started and James didn't miss how they both looked just _slightly_ disheveled and how Dany's cheeks were a tiny bit more flushed than usual.

Ew.

Sirius sat down next to James and Dany took her seat between Lily and Marlene, who both started questioning her. She said something in response and when Dany turned her head to say something to Lily, James could see that she was smiling, even with her pink cheeks.

"Everything go okay?" James murmured and Sirius nodded. "Did you enjoy your snog?" He added and Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Actually, don't answer that." He changed his mind, his attention turning to the girls two desks in front of him. "You made her really happy, you know." He commented and glanced over at Sirius to see his reaction. He looked up at Dany and nodded slowly.

"I hope so."

"You know it's really weird getting ready without a bowtie." James said and there was a sound of general agreement from the other guys. James glanced at the dress pants and button down.

"I feel like I'm in my school clothes." Sirius said and James had to agree.

"It's pretty close except for the fact that it's not wrinkled as hell." Remus commented from where he was digging through his trunk and looking for his nicer shoes. "The real difference is going to be for the girls though; they're all going to be in dresses." He added on and James thought about Lily in a dress and he smiled a little, despite the fact that she really wanted very little to do with him, especially now that their friends were dating and they had no common cause.

"Oh yeah…I forgot about that. At least it'll be a nice change of pace from school skirts." James said and there was another sound of agreement. "Well, let's get to it. Oh, and Padfoot mate? Keep your hands off my Godsister, at least in public, tonight." He added on and Sirius rolled his eyes. The party was starting just before sundown and would last for at least four hours.

"I'll do my best, Prongs." He said and James shrugged.

"I'm just saying. The press would love to have a good picture of you groping her ass." He said and Sirius looked interested by that.

"We're at _school_ , James. There's no press." He said and James shook his head slightly. He didn't understand yet. He'd figure it out soon enough, James thought; he'd have to.

"There's _always_ press, man. If they're not here, someone'll sell them pictures. Watch yourself." He said warningly and Sirius nodded before the guys left their room and walked down the stairs, changing the subject to more lighthearted topics. James took a bet with Remus about how long Sirius would stare at Dany before he said anything to her. James was saying for more than five minutes between when she was visible on the stairs and when he finally spoke and Remus said less. Sirius had no idea this was happening. They all thought that Frank wouldn't have this problem seeing that he and Alice was an established couple and the allure of dresses wore off eventually. Sirius told Remus not to start drooling when Marlene finally came downstairs.

"Be nice, boys. Remus just has it bad for a girl he thinks he can't have; one would think that Sirius would be more understanding considering it took him _three years_ to finally get the girl." Alice said from behind them all. Frank smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look gorgeous, Al." He said and James thought that this was rather cute, despite also thinking that it was uncomfortable to be around.

"Thank you. But be nice to Remus, he's just…blind to the obvious." She said and Marlene suddenly appeared.

"What's Remus oblivious to?" She asked and Al shrugged.

"Not much, outside of the fact that Potter and Black are gay for each other." She said dismissively and James and Sirius both protested.

"Oi, I'm no such thing, Prewett!" James said. Sirius looked unhappy with that.

"We're not gay, thank you very much. Prongs is still desperately in love with Lily and I have a girlfriend. I think we're taken, and definitely _not_ with each other." He said and suddenly a couple of people started laughing at the top of the stairs. It was Dany and Lily. Lily was in a simple green sundress and white wedges and she looked absolutely stunning, even though James was normally opposed to the color green purely because he didn't like the association with Slytherin. Dany looked lovely as well, in a thick-strapped blue sundress with red flowers on it and a pair of tall red wedges.

"It's nice to know that I'm not being compared to James all of the time." She said lightly and both girls started to walk down the stairs, obviously watching each other in case one tripped. Sure enough, Lily started to stumble and everyone gasped. Dany caught her and steadied her; she was much more used to the heels and was able to not only keep her balance, but also save her friend from a nosedive. Lily looked at her friend gratefully.

"This is why we can't survive without each other." She said and Dany laughed and shrugged.

"It all comes with practice Lillian. Now, let's get you on the ground before you have a broken nose." She said and the girls finally were on flat ground, with both of their faces intact. Dany let go of Lily and walked over to her boyfriend. James watched keenly, waiting to see Sirius talk. He had been looking at her like he had no intention of ever looking away but had still said nothing. Four minutes. James noticed that she was still much smaller than him, even though she was in heels that had to be at least four inches tall. He didn't have to look down so much though. She said something to him and he still didn't say anything but continued to stare. James exchanged a look with Remus, who looked like he knew he was losing his money. Five minutes. Another second later, he finally said something and she laughed and visibly said "thank you" and he kissed her, not having to stoop like James had seen him do on countless occasions to kiss his short girlfriend.

They really fucking loved each other; James thought he was glad to see that it was working out for them. He suspected that even as their relationship aged, he'd probably still look at her like he had never seen her before.

Suddenly, James caught a glimpse of Kenzie and tried to pretend he hadn't seen her. Maybe she wouldn't notice Dany looking extremely pretty and being complimented by her boyfriend if she didn't notice any of them. Maybe she wouldn't see the girl that had finally gotten the guy. No luck.

Kenzie looked over and saw them. James watched her as she caught Dany's eye; Sirius was looking away, talking to Remus despite having a hand on his girlfriend's waist at a perfectly respectable spot on her back. Sirius apparently knew more than he let on in terms of etiquette because that was a very strategic hand placement: it was far too low for friends but also high enough that it was clean. Kenzie smirked at her and mouthed something to her. James thought she had said "one week". He had no idea what that meant but it appeared that Dany knew exactly what she was referencing, judging by the look on her face that could only be classified as worried. Suddenly, her expression changed and she turned around, with a flip of her white hair. It was like Kenzie had only existed for the brief moment that Dany had allowed her to.

Lily looked pissed and walked over to Kenzie with Marlene by her side, clearly trying to avoid the attention of their best friend who undoubtedly wouldn't want them fighting her battles for her. Lily said something to Kenzie that clearly didn't go over well and Marlene added something that looked nasty. The blonde looked outraged before walking away. Lily waved patronizingly at her and Marlene smirked. James wanted to bloody kiss them both for that. He walked over to them.

"What, James?" Lily asked dryly.

"I saw what she said to Dan. What does she mean?" He asked.

"What? That 'one week' bullshit? She meant one more week until they break up." Marlene said and James raised an eyebrow.

"What? There's no way." He said and Lily nodded.

"Of course there isn't. It's a mind game; she's trying to get in Dany's head. She's trying to put her on edge and get her to start acting crazy so he'll dump her." Lily said and this interested James as much as it revolted him.

"Seriously? That actually _works?_ "

"Yeah…it's been going on for a while, actually. She isn't the first one this has happened to. It's actually been pretty effective before." Lily added on and Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Does Sirius know?" He asked and they both shrugged.

"Doubt it. If he did, I'd be shocked." Marlene said.

"What? Why not?" He could probably get it to stop if anyone could.

"Because she's embarrassed that it's working. They're really fucking with her head and she's so…insecure, for lack of a better word, after Brady. And the girls are careful that he doesn't see; it's abundantly clear that he doesn't take kindly to her being mistreated or harassed and they don't want to be on the receiving end of that." Lily said and James could barely believe what was coming out of her mouth.

"The fact that she's in no position to stop it makes it worse, I think. She can't force them to stop because they won't listen to her, she can't go to a professor because they can't micromanage half of the female population of the school, and I know that she doesn't want to tell Sirius because she's embarrassed that she can't handle it herself. Unfortunately, he's probably the only person that could get them to shut up and leave her alone." Marlene added.

"Well take it from someone that knows, she has _nothing_ to be worried about. He loves her—he'd probably bloody die for her if she asked him to." James said absently and Lily and Marlene looked at him sharply.

"What did you just say?" Lily asked and he shrugged.

"What? That he loves her? He does." He said.

"No, the other part." Marlene said, waving a hand and watching him intently.

"That he'd die for her? He probably would. Almost has, if we're counting his parents. That's how Spring Break happened; he wouldn't give them up, Dan and her family, I mean." He said, referencing Sirius' near-death experience.

"Does Dany know?" Lily asked and James shrugged.

"I'm not sure; I think she knows that she was involved to some extent but I don't think she's aware that she was at the heart of the argument." He said and Marlene and Lily looked over at where Dany was talking to Sirius. Sirius had no idea that his girlfriend was worried about being dumped on her ass in less than a week.

* * *

"It's lovely." Dany heard herself say as she looked around the grounds, which had been transformed into a space fit for a party. There were tables and chairs and flowers and it was all under the darkening sky.

"Yeah, it's nice." Sirius said absently and she rolled her eyes. The boy just couldn't see the beauty in a lot of things.

"It's gorgeous, Sirius Black. Look around and pretend that you don't have to be super masculine all of the time. Really look and tell me again that it's just 'nice'." She said and he laughed and she stared at him, not joking.

"Alright, alright." He said and looked around. "It's pretty. Now can we please move on? Because I totally think that you're prettier than the scenery." He said and she laughed.

"Well thank you. You know you probably just think that because you don't have to double over to see me because of these shoes." She joked and he laughed.

"Maybe a little, but I still think you're prettier than the scenery when you're your usual, shorter self." He said and she smiled as they sat down at a table.

"That's awfully kind of you." She commented and she heard Kenzie's words bouncing around. One week. One week. She tried to ignore it, she really did, but the more and more consistent the whispers became, the harder they became to ignore. It had been one thing when the guesses had ranged over the span of a month and most of them were obviously wrong because clearly no one had any idea…but now they were all saying the same thing: one week. One week until Sirius moved onto girlfriend number twelve and she joined the ever-growing list of exes.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked suddenly and Dany realized that she had been absently staring off for a good while.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." She said and forced herself to smile. "Sorry, I spaced out for a minute. What were you saying?" She said and he smiled.

"Nothing important…are you sure you're okay? You look…off." He said and looked at her face closely. It would be so easy. All she had to do was say, 'no' and there would be no going back.

"Yeah, I'm sure. So what do you think's going to happen when James inevitably asks Lily to dance tonight?" She asked and he looked at her keenly one more time before answering. He wasn't buying her line about being okay. He knew something was wrong and she could tell. She was a good liar, but so was he.

"I think she's probably going to be oddly embarrassed and then hex him out of habit." He said and looked over at where Lily, James, and Marlene were all talking. Marlene seemed to be in disagreement with the other two and Dany wondered what could possibly have Lily and James taking the same side _against_ Marlene. Suddenly, James and Lily started walking towards Dany and Sirius.

"Dan, I need to borrow your boyfriend for a bit." James said and Sirius looked at him curiously but nodded and left with James. Lily took his seat.

"What was that all about?" She asked the redhead, who shrugged.

"Don't know. Probably something about the full moons or Quidditch or something." She said dismissively and Dany saw a muscle in her neck twitch. She was lying. Her best friend was lying to her for some reason. She let it slide. It better be a damn good reason.

"Probably…so, nice party huh? It's a good idea. I don't get outside nearly enough." Dany said and Lily nodded. She kept her eye on Sirius and James. James was doing most of the talking and suddenly, Sirius looked very pissed. Uh-oh. He said something back to James, who looked like he was saying something along the lines of "don't shoot the messenger". Sirius looked hurt momentarily and then nodded before clapping James on the shoulder and walking back towards the girls.

"Lily, if you don't mind…" He trailed off and Lily was already out of her seat.

"I'll go find Marles." She said quietly and Sirius took the chair that they had been trading back and forth.

"Why didn't you tell me about Kenzie?" He asked suddenly. Dany looked at him in surprise.

"What? How did you—?"

"Find out? Not from you and I'd really like to know why that is." He said and she raised an eyebrow. He was obviously caught somewhere between pissed and hurt, more towards pissed.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to." She said and he looked like he didn't even know how to respond.

"I'm not asking you to share everything with me, but I really want to know why you didn't tell me that they've all been screwing with you the way that they have been. Don't get me wrong, I respect your right to privacy, but I'd like to know why I heard this from James and not from you." He said and Dany wanted to kick herself for not realizing that this was what Lily and James had been in agreement on. She needed to thank Marlene for not interfering in her relationship.

"I'm going to kill Lily. She told _James._ " She said absently.

"Will you please talk to me about this? I normally wouldn't pry but this is directly related to me; please talk to me." He asked, obviously becoming impatient and irritated with this being held back from him.

"I didn't want to tell you what they were saying because it wasn't going to do anything. And if we're going to be honest, I was embarrassed that I couldn't handle it myself. Not to mention that even though we're dating, I'm not going to be your whiny girlfriend that wants you to fix everything. It's my problem, so please let me handle it." She said and he looked like he wanted to say something but didn't. "What?" She said and he hesitated.

"Why are you so embarrassed by this? You shouldn't be embarrassed because you're being harassed by some bitchy girls; it's not your fault."

"Because I don't want to admit that it's working!" Dany finally snapped, raising her voice slightly. "This stupid little mind game is actually working and that's so fucking embarrassing because I spend my life so worried about what other people think about me." She said with a sarcastic, hard laugh. "It's pathetic really." She added, tears starting to build. She tried to push them back—she didn't want Sirius to start saying anything just to stop her from crying.

"It's working? How could they possibly convince you that we're going to break up within the next week? Are you that unhappy?" He looked genuinely hurt.

"I'm not unhappy at all, it's actually the opposite, but it's not terribly hard to convince me—ever since Brady. It's stupid but it's always there, nagging in the back of my mind." Dany said. "Like I said: pathetic." She continued to study her hands and blink in hopes of blinking her tears away.

"Hey, Dan?" He said quietly and she looked up at him from her hands.

"Yeah?" She said and he was staring at her, obviously thinking.

"I don't think I've ever actually told you this intentionally, but I love you." He said suddenly and she was shocked.

"What?" She said blankly. She was pretty sure she had heard wrong.

"I love you, I really do—and you're not pathetic. Not at all. Not even a little." James had mentioned that those words had never come out of his mouth intentionally and of his own volition. Those three little words burned the mouths of most people in his family. It was one of the most powerful arrangements of eight letters in the English language. "You shouldn't be afraid of me breaking up with you." He said and she smiled and kissed him.

"I love you too." She said quietly and he smiled a little. That was a huge step for him. Big enough to consider writing home about.

"I think Kenzie's plan might have just backfired." He said quietly and she laughed into her hand.

"I think it might have. This is all very awkward for her." Dany said with a smile and he kissed her again.

"Please let me talk to her." He said softly and she shook her head.

"No. I'm not letting you fight my fights for me. Kenzie has a problem with me so she can talk to me." She said and he nodded.

"Alright…just talk to me about what they're saying. That's all I'm asking. You shouldn't be walking around with all of that up here," he tapped her forehead and she smiled a little, "and have no one to share it with." She nodded. "So, how about dancing?" He said suddenly and she laughed.

"Are you willing to voluntarily dance? This is a landmark day for you, Sirius Black." She said and he shrugged.

"Well I have this girlfriend who really likes to dance so I think that I'm willing to—to make her happy and to make those tears go away." She rolled her eyes.

"You're just being a sap now." She said and he shrugged. "But I'm not going to turn that opportunity down. Let's go." She added on and stood up. He stood up with her and laughed. Lily caught Dany's eye and waved them over. Everyone was standing in the same general area and dancing. Sirius was distracted by James and Dany drifted over to Lily.

"I should kick your ass, Lily Evans." Dany said and Lily shrugged.

"But it worked, didn't it? Oh, I love this song!" She said and Dany laughed and allowed Lily to get her to start dancing with her. Marlene and Alice came over and started dancing with them. It was upbeat and oddly related to sex for a school-sanctioned event. Alice grabbed her boyfriend and tried to get him to do more than stand there. She was slightly successful. Dany, Marlene, and Lily, for their parts were dancing with each other. Dany enjoyed dancing and not having to worry about stepping on her dress for once. Lily was starting to really get down and Dany grinned and moved her hips roughly to the beat as an excuse for dancing so she could unabashedly laugh at her friend's horrible dancing. Suddenly someone touched her waist from behind and she turned around to say something less than friendly and along the lines of 'fuck off'. She was nose to nose with Sirius.

"Nice dancing." He said quietly and she shrugged and didn't move her face. They were about an inch away from bumping noses.

"I was busy laughing at Lily's awful dancing. Sorry it wasn't very intricate." She said and he chuckled.

"I was being serious. I didn't know that my girlfriend could move her hips like that. Please don't stop. Ever." He said seriously and she rolled her eyes.

"You should take me dancing more then." She said and he shook his head.

"I don't think it would be smiled upon if you danced and I just watched. It would probably seem a little creepy." He said and she shrugged.

"Alright, maybe a little. But you're not bad at all and should stop being so worried about it." She said and he kissed her suddenly but still carefully. That was something that always stood out between him and Brady; he was never in a hurry to stick his tongue down her throat. Brady had been pushy and invasive, even in public— _especially_ in public, as if he wanted everyone to think that they were about ready to go off and shag. She kissed him back and then suddenly smiled a little.

"We should probably do more than stand here. People are starting to stare." He said quietly and she laughed a little and, funnily enough, the music slowed way down and people started to couple off and dance. "Would you like to dance?" He asked quietly and she smiled, allowing him to put his hands on her waist.

"I don't think I mentioned that you look different when you're not in your school clothes." She said and kissed him gently. "I kind of like it. Don't get me wrong, your normal look is good too but it's a nice change." She said quietly and he chuckled.

"Well I still feel like I'm in my school clothes. And I have to say that your dress is incredible. I don't know how women never repeat their dresses. So much money spent." He said and she shrugged.

"It's the burden that we have to carry, I suppose. Besides, it's not too bad as long as you know where to shop." She said and he didn't seem to believe her.

"Whatever you say. I'd still rather keep wearing the same dress shirt over and over again." He said and Dany shook her head slightly.

"Where's the fun in that? Variety is the spice of life." She said and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask, but how did you know that I love tulips?" She said suddenly, referring to the red flowers he had given her when he had asked her to the dance.

"James." He said and she smiled a little, nodding.

"Not surprised. When Easter comes around, he and Charlie send Dorea, Mom, and me flowers. It's actually quite sweet." She added thoughtfully. "He usually sends yellow though. I think yellow is less associated with romance than red is, so that would probably explain it."

"I'd be having words with James if he was sending my girlfriend flowers with romantic meanings." Sirius said and Dany laughed.

"Honestly, if he did that, it'd probably be on accident. I somehow doubt that James bothers to really make sure that the flowers are _super_ platonic before he sends them." She said and Sirius snorted, probably imagining James interrogating a florist. The mental image was really quite hilarious.

"Speaking of James, he told me to be on my good behavior tonight." Sirius said idly and Dany raised an eyebrow. "I believe he said 'there'll likely be reporters and please don't get caught touching your girlfriend's bum in public'." Dany started laughing, shaking her head.

"Oh, James. I mean he's probably right, but still. I'm afraid that if you want to touch my bum, it'll have to be in private." She sighed dramatically.

"Is the broom cupboard on our way back to the common room private enough for you?" Sirius asked and Dany felt herself blush at the mildly graphic image that brought to mind.

"That's plenty private enough. It has four walls and a door that locks and that's all that really matters." She said and he grinned.

"Excellent. We'll be sure to make a stop there after the dance."

And that's how Dany found herself in a broom cupboard on the third floor, snogging her boyfriend and eagerly trying to undo his shirt, untucking it as quickly as she could before pulling at the buttons.

"So impatient." He murmured into her neck as she removed his shirt.

"Shut up and kiss me." She whispered back before pulling his face back to hers, letting her fingers trace the defined muscles on his arms and chest. Sirius easily lifted her up and wrapped her legs around him—probably so he didn't have to continue to lean down to snog her—with his hands holding her up by her thighs, pressing her against the wall.

Dany and Sirius were perfectly happy with this arrangement for a good half hour, until they heard footsteps. They quickly dismissed them and while Dany was more concerned than Sirius, she was having a difficult time being _that_ concerned while her boyfriend was gently kissing her jawline and neck. She sighed as he gently sucked on a particular spot on her neck before forgetting the footsteps completely and returning to actively snogging her boyfriend, her legs still around him.

Unfortunately, they didn't hear the footsteps stop outside the door—which they had forgotten to lock—and didn't realize that they were no longer alone until Professor McGonagall was standing in the open doorway, clearing her throat. They both looked over and Dany felt her face turn a flaming color of red: say what you want about Brady, but they hadn't gotten caught snogging—by a professor no less.

"Mr. Black, please place Miss Masters back on the ground." She said patiently and Sirius let Dany's legs drop, steadying her as she put her weight back onto her heels. "I'd say to explain yourselves, but I don't want to hear one nor do I think I need one. Detention tomorrow night. Come see me in my office at five. Now, I suggest going to your common room. And _staying_ there." She said and walked away.

"Sorry about the detention." Sirius muttered, putting his shirt on quickly as Dany adjusted her dress and tried to tame her hair. She shrugged.

"It's fine. It was bound to happen eventually and as embarrassing as that was, it could have been a lot worse." She said as they started to walk back to the common room. "Do I want to ask how many times you've been caught snogging girls in broom cupboards? McGonagall didn't look very surprised."

"Caught? Never. I've never _not_ paid attention to what was happening in the hallways before. Unfortunately for us—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—I was giving you all of my attention and didn't bother with listening to much more than the adorable noises that you make when I kiss your neck." He said airily and Dany felt her face turn a bright shade of red at that, despite him sounding like he was talking about the weather. "I promise not to tell anyone." He added at her red face. "It can be our secret, as I somehow doubt that Brady was very satisfying and that the odds of him knowing are zero." Well, he wasn't wrong.

"I'll hand you that one. Thank you for being a good kisser. I didn't know what I was missing." She laughed as they reached the Seventh Floor. Suddenly, Peeves appeared out of nowhere. "Shit." She muttered. The poltergeist never failed to throw something at her, mainly insults. He looked excited at the prospect of terrorizing children, but didn't do anything when he actually looked at them.

"Peeves." Sirius said, nodding at the little man floating in the air. Peeves nodded back and eyed Dany, looking like he was going to start throwing something at her, like inkwells (her personal favorite). Sirius wrapped an arm around her and Peeves seemed to deflate and vanished with a pop. Dany looked over at her boyfriend questioningly. "We leave each other alone on the condition that we help each other in the battle against Flitch." He explained and Dany nodded.

"Unbelievable. You actually have an understanding with _Peeves_."

"It came about Third Year. It's been wonderful. He leaves James and I alone completely, but he still gives Remus some shit though. We take what we can get. He can be downright useful if we push it a bit too far and get caught; he can take the blame—they can't expel him and Dumbledore won't banish him." Sirius said.

"You crafty bastards." She said. "How didn't I know how clever you lot are?" Dany added as they walked into the common room, which was empty. Everyone had come back and gone to bed while Dany and Sirius had been snogging.

"You chose to underestimate us. Now, this is where I leave you, Miss Masters." He said pretentiously, making her laugh. Dany pulled him towards her by his shirt and kissed him deeply.

"Tell me goodnight like you bloody well mean it, Black." She whispered once she had broken off the kiss for air.

"As much as I'd love to, we've already got caught snogging once tonight. Do you _really_ want to go for twice in one night?" Sirius said quietly as they were standing incredibly close.

"It can't possibly be worse than getting caught by McGonagall." Dany whispered back. Sirius grinned and kissed her gently, not like he had been snogging her silly in the broom cupboard half an hour ago. It seemed—there really wasn't another word for it— _loving_.

"Goodnight, Dan." He whispered, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes and took in the feeling of standing there with his lips on her forehead. It was soothing in its own way.

"I love you." She whispered and she felt him smile up against her forehead.

"I love you too." He said, moving away from her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Dany." She smiled and kissed his cheek quickly before walking upstairs, leaving him behind her in the common room. When she walked into her own room, her friends were all still awake.

"And where have you been? Why didn't you tell us you'd be back late? We're in a war, you know." Lily asked somewhat accusingly.

"She's been snogging Black, now leave her alone Lily." Alice said from where she was removing her makeup. "Where was it this time?"

"Broom cupboard." Dany muttered. "How did you know?" She asked. Alice laughed and so did Marlene.

"Go look at yourself." Marles said, gesturing to the nearest mirror. Dany looked in and felt her face turn red again. Her hair was tangled and her lipstick was completely smudged. Not to mention the super-flattering bruise that was forming on the side of her neck from Sirius' mouth.

"No wonder McGonagall didn't ask for a bloody explanation." She muttered absently. Everyone gasped and looked at her.

"What did you just say?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah…I have detention tomorrow evening." Dany mumbled. "Because McGonagall caught us." She added.

"McGonagall caught you and Sirius snogging in a broom cupboard?" Lily asked. "Please tell me that you were just snogging."

"Oh my God, yes Lily! We were definitely just snogging." Dany said loudly. "Maybe Sirius wasn't completely clothed, but we were just snogging." She added on without thinking and then wanted to kick herself.

" _What_?!" The other three girls screamed and Dany ran into the bathroom.

"Going to shower!" She said through the door, hoping to outlast her roommates and that they'd go to sleep.


	26. If The Truth is You're a Liar

Hi! So, we're going to see a bit of a reversal from last chapter as these poor kids struggle into a secure relationship, bless them.

Don't expect this to be the last time one of their insecurities rears its ugly head.

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

* * *

 _If the truth is you're a liar_  
 _When you say that you're okay_  
 _I'm sleeping on your side of the bed_  
 _Goin' out of my head now_

 _I'll leave the door unlatched_  
 _If you ever come back, if you ever come back_  
 _There'll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat_  
 _If you ever come back_  
 _There'll be a smile on my face and the kettle on_  
 _And it will be just like you were never gone_  
 _There'll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat_  
 _If you ever come back if you ever come back now_

 _~If You Ever Come Back,_ The Script

* * *

The next morning on his way to breakfast—Dany and Sirius had decided to skip running in the wake of the dance—Sirius walked down to the Great Hall only to catch the end of some rather unflattering whispers.

He recognized Lauren Thomas, one of Kenzie's good friends, and a Ravenclaw girl that he didn't know. Lauren's back was turned to him so she didn't see him.

"…Honestly, it only makes sense: Black's just taking Brady's sloppy seconds." The Ravenclaw girl said. Sirius stopped to listen and neither girl seemed to notice.

"From what I hear, Masters has been shagging around ever since Brady dumped her anyways. One of my friends says that she sees her with different blokes all the time—obviously this is late at night when she isn't with her 'boyfriend'." Lauren said. Sirius raised an eyebrow and tried to dismiss it.

"Makes sense. I mean, Brady's did say that she's a pretty easy shag—said that she didn't even wait until the end of their first date." The Ravenclaw said and Sirius took that time to walk away and head towards the Great Hall, where Dany was sitting—alone for once. He sat down next to her and had to force himself to smile. She smiled back happily.

"Morning. Sleep well?" She asked, taking a bite of her toast. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, fine. Yourself?" She nodded.

"I collapsed right into bed. I think being caught snogging by McGonagall exhausted me." She joked.

"No Lily, Alice, or Marlene?" He asked, unable to help himself from sounding accusing. The odds of Dany actually cheating or sleeping around were slim to none, but he couldn't help the nagging doubt.

"I woke up late and the other girls had already left to revise in the library. I thought I'd come down and eat before I met up with them." She said. He nodded and didn't say anything, looking away from her. "Are you okay, Sirius? You seem…different—upset even."

"I'm fine, Dan. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked tightly and she shrugged.

"Not a clue, but I thought I'd ask in case you wanted to talk." She said before finishing off her toast. "Well, I should go catch up with the girls. I need to get revision done now because we have detention at five, yeah?" She said, standing up. "Not my ideal date, but I'll take it, I suppose." She added with a laugh before kissing his cheek and leaving.

It suddenly seemed like the roles had reversed. Last night, Dany had been on edge about their relationship—irrationally concerned that he was going to break up with her for no reason—and now he was unable to help himself from thinking that she might be cheating, just because he had heard one of Kenzie's friends and a girl that knew Brady saying that.

Because Brady was a beacon of truth and definitely told his friends the truth all the time. Right.

Now, she seemed happy and secure—he had soothed her fears last night, insisting that he wasn't going to breakup with her and telling her that he loved her (which he did). Now, he was the one worrying about rumors.

Great.

The entire day, Sirius spent reading stupid magazines or trying to do his homework, only to come back to what he had heard that morning. When 4:30 came around, he slowly made his way to McGonagall's office, wondering if he'd make it through detention without shouting at Dany, demanding to know whether she was shagging other men—and if she had actually shagged Brady on their first date.

Dany showed up a couple minutes after him and McGonagall set them to lines—apparently too annoyed to come up with something more inventive. She locked them in her office and left them to it.

Dany didn't make an effort to talk—probably wanting to get out of this bloody office as quickly as possible—and that somehow infuriated Sirius. The scratching of her quill was irrationally pissing him off. He looked over at her and she was concentrating on her lines. She apparently noticed and smiled warmly at him.

"Are you sleeping around?" Came out of his mouth before he could stop it and the smile vanished and she looked more shocked than anything.

" _What_? Is this your idea of a joke?" When he didn't answer, the shock morphed into hurt and Sirius realized very quickly that she wasn't cheating and he had just seriously hurt her. Not to mention the fact that this could very well be the end of their relationship. "Do you really think I'd do that?" She said, her eyes welling up. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but Filch walked in—sent by McGonagall to make sure they weren't sitting around snogging. She didn't have anything to worry about. Dany quickly returned to her lines and Filch told Sirius to get back to it as well.

The caretaker sat there impassively as Sirius wrote his lines and heard his girlfriend—who was probably going to be an ex after this—sniffle occasionally as she wrote. Dany finished before him and handed the parchment to Filch before leaving, slamming the door behind her.

Sirius finished as quickly as he could and pulled out the Map to try and find her. Her searched for her and found her in a mostly unused corridor not far from McGonagall's classroom. Sirius quietly walked there and stopped when he heard something from down the hall. He peeked down the hall and realized that he had been hearing his Dany's muffled crying. She was sitting against the wall, knees under her chin, with her hands over her face, quietly crying.

"Dany?" He said quietly. She looked over at him, not bothering to get up.

"What do you want Sirius? Do you want to know if I've been shagging just blokes or girls too?" She said tiredly. The closer he got, the worse she looked. She hadn't been crying; she had been sobbing.

"No, I—"

"How could you think I would do that to you—or anyone else? I _know_ what it's like to be cheated on, Sirius—in case you've forgotten—and it really fucking hurts. I wouldn't wish it on anyone—let alone someone I care for." She said quietly.

"Dan, look can I just explain?" He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why bother? I'm just a cheating whore, apparently." She said, standing up.

"Because I want you to hear this."

"You better make it fucking good. If there isn't a _really_ good reason for this, we're done." She snapped, crossing her arms. Sirius felt the pressure triple just thinking about how good her follow-through was.

"This morning I was walking down to breakfast and overheard a couple of girls talking about how you've been sleeping around ever since you and Brady broke up and that apparently one of her friends sees you all the time with different blokes late at night and this sounds so bad out loud." Dany nodded as if to say 'yeah, it sounds fucking terrible, you twat'. "I just—it was like what Kenzie was doing with telling you that we were going to break up. It's stupid, but it's there and I obviously don't have your self-control and didn't stop myself from actually asking." She looked at him like she was waiting on something and when he didn't say anything—not knowing what she wanted—she walked away. She was actually going to leave and he was about to become intimately familiar with what heartbreak felt like.

"Dany! Wait! Please, just let me finish." He called after her and she turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I—obviously—now realize that you're not and I'm a moron and I shouldn't have believed them because that isn't fair to you and if I had bothered to actually think about it, this is probably just Brady—and probably Kenzie—trying to get us to breakup or something." He said in a single breath and she nodded slowly, appraising him silently. "Also, I really think you could do a lot better than me, so if you leave, I get it. I really do; I don't blame you—who would? I'm a mess as it is and I just accused you of something terrible that you didn't do because I overheard some girls gossiping."

She slowly walked back towards him so he didn't have to keep shouting at her from down the hall.

"Well, keep on groveling." She said, crossing her arms. "Go ahead." She added, a small smile appearing for a second before it vanished.

"Should I get on my knees and beg?" He asked and she raised an eyebrow, arms still crossed.

"If that's what you think you should do. You have one week to make it up to me and after that—if I still don't have a reason to forgive you, we're over." She said. "I want to forgive you Sirius, but I'm not doing what I did with Brady. I'm not going to look the other way and let you treat me poorly because you don't trust me." Sirius nodded. That was understandable. "One week. Make it worth both of our whiles." Dany added before walking away, leaving him in the corridor.

Lily knew something was wrong with Dany—as soon as she had walked into their room, her eyes had narrowed. Dany couldn't really find it in her to care right now and she certainly couldn't find it in herself to talk about what had just happened. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her schoolwork, starting to read their Potions reading. Lily didn't bring it up, just continuously eyed her friend until it was time for dinner. Dany saw her doing it and knew that she was going to be hearing about this later from her friends.

"Did you eat dinner, Dan?" She asked. Dany shook her head.

"No, but I have so much work I think I'll pass tonight." She fibbed. Lily narrowed her eyes, but nodded.

"I'll bring something back for you, okay? I'm meeting Al and Marles down in the Great Hall." Dany nodded, smiling a little.

"Thanks, Lils."

"Of course. And after dinner, the four of us are going to sit down and talk about what's going on." She added and vanished. Dany closed her book and flopped back onto her bed and started at the ceiling. She had almost fallen out of her chair when Sirius had asked her if she was cheating and had to fight the urge to simultaneously slap him, run out of the room, and cry. Honestly, where's the trust?

He had known as soon as they words had left his mouth that he had made a mistake—it had been all over his face—but that still couldn't take it back. She wanted to forgive him, call it water under the bridge and move on, but she couldn't. She had done that for far too long with Brady and like hell was she getting caught in that cycle again. So what if she ended up being one of Sirius' one-month relationships? It wasn't a crime to breakup with someone, although Dany strongly suspected that if they didn't reconcile as a couple, they weren't going to stay friends. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't actually said 'I'm sorry'. He had said a lot, but an apology hadn't been in there.

The three girls came back just as she thought this, bringing her food.

"What's the problem, Dan? Lily said that you're upset and won't tell her why." Marlene said, giving her the plate of food and sitting next to her on her bed. Dany slowly took the food and placed it in her lap.

"Sirius asked me if I was cheating on him during detention." She murmured.

"What?!" They all simultaneously shouted.

"Please explain so I can go castrate him." Lily said. Her face matched her hair.

"I don't know, I mean we were just in detention and he'd been a little touchy when I saw him this morning, but we were doing lines and he just kind of shouted 'are you sleeping around' at me." She said. "I asked him if it was a joke and what was wrong with him and he chased me down after detention and said that he had heard girls talking today and they were saying that I'd been shagging everything that moves ever since Brady and I split."

"Are you over?" Alice asked.

"You dumped him, right?" Lily said evenly. Dany shrugged.

"I told him that he had a week to make it up to me and if I still wasn't convinced, then we were done. I haven't broken up with him, but we're not really together right now. I think we're somewhere in limbo for the next week." Dany said and everyone nodded. "I thought that was fair, I mean I want to forgive him and figured I should at least give him a chance to change my mind." Marlene and Alice nodded and Lily took that time to storm out. "Lily?" They heard her going downstairs and exchanged looks. She was going to go find Sirius.

"Lily!" They all shouted before running after her. By the time they reached the common room, she was already halfway up the stairs to the boys' room. They all scrambled after her, but they were too late to stop her from walking right over to Sirius—who had apparently been in conversation with Remus—and punching him in the mouth. Marlene, Alice, and Dany exchanged looks and jumped forward to wrestle Lily off him.

"You're going to get yourself bloody expelled, Lily!" Dany shouted at her as the redhead started issuing death threats.

"Calm down, Lily! Jesus, we get it: you're pissed and Black's a twat!" Marlene screamed as she and Alice tried to keep Lily from digging her nails into Sirius' eyes. Dany was occupied with trying to pull her away from around the waist.

"I'm going to fucking murder him!" She was screaming. "Let me go so I can kill him!" She kept going, trying to shake her friends off. Remus was inspecting Sirius' face and James appeared to be just coming out of the shower.

"What in the bloody hell is going on out here?" He asked, shocked.

"I told you that if you hurt her, I'd kill you and I fucking meant it!" Lily continued to scream over everyone else telling her to stop. "Just let me get one more punch in, Marles! Just one more! He deserves it and you know it!"

"Marlene—" Dany started, but Marlene had relinquished her grip on Lily, who took that opportunity to sock Sirius in the stomach.

"She could do _so_ much better than you." She hissed before stalking out of the room, leaving everyone standing shocked in her wake. The guys all exchanged looks.

"What the fuck was that?" Frank asked from his bed. Marlene and Alice both ignored him and put their arms around Dany before guiding her out of the room before she could break down and make sure that Lily hadn't seriously hurt Sirius.

They got back to their room and Lily was already there, fuming.

"Sorry about the vase, Dan. It just kind of…broke." She said, gesturing to the vase that was in pieces on the ground. Water had spilled everywhere and there were tulips everywhere as well. Dany waved a hand.

"It's fine. I was going to pitch them anyways." She said and waved her wand, vanishing them. "I think I'm going to call it a night, alright?" She said and the other girls nodded, wishing her a goodnight.

The next morning was when the first one appeared. Dany decided that she wasn't going to go down and run with Sirius as she was still pissed at him and hurt in general, so when she woke up at seven with her roommates, it felt like sleeping in.

She stumbled out of bed and opened her trunk to blearily pull out her uniform, only to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing right.

"Al? You're really big into flower meanings."

"Yeah…"

"What do tulips mean?" She asked. Alice looked over from her own trunk.

"They really can mean anything. Depends on the color."

"What about purple?" Dany held up the flower in her trunk for her to see. Marlene and Lily looked over as well.

"Say what you want, but he moves fast." Marlene commented.

"Forgiveness. They're apology flowers. " Alice said softly before finally extracting her uniform from her trunk. Dany set it down on her bed and pulled her own uniform out—too busy to think much about where to put it.

The girls were walking down to breakfast, talking about nothing in particular, when they started hearing rumors that Brady Harris was in the hospital wing. They all exchanged looks, at least mildly relieved to hear that he was just in the Hospital Wing and not in St. Mungo's. Eventually, Lily stopped a younger girl from Ravenclaw in the hallway and asked what had happened.

"No one's sure, but he has these awful boils all over his body. Apparently he just woke up with them this morning. One of my friends saw him leaving the tower with his friends and said that the boils spelled 'liar' on his forehead in big letters." She said. "Not a clue who did it though." Lily nodded before thanking the girl and continuing down to breakfast.

They all sat down and exchanged looks.

"You don't think that…?" Alice trailed off.

"Absolutely." Marlene and Lily said at the same time from either side of Dany. Dany raised an eyebrow and had to admit that it sounded like Sirius and possibly James. She guessed that James wasn't very thrilled with Sirius if he had gotten the entire story, but she doubted that he'd turn down a prank—pissed or not.

The guys walked in and all four girls looked up to stare. Sirius made direct eye contact with Dany—who had to admit that he looked like someone had shot his puppy and was also sporting a bruised jaw from Lily—before James jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow and pulled him to the other end of the table to sit down. It was the first time in a really long time since the boys hadn't sat with them. Dany looked down at her food and continued to eat.

"Marles, pass me the pumpkin juice?" She asked and Marlene passed her the pitcher. Dany went to pour juice, but nothing came out. It didn't feel empty.

"All out?" Lily asked. "I have one by me."

"It doesn't feel empty." She said to Lily, shaking it a bit only to hear liquid inside. "Maybe the spout's broken." She said and popped the lid off the pitcher to look inside.

"…Or maybe flowers are following you everywhere now." Marlene said, looking into the pitcher to see an identical flower to the one she had found in her trunk. Dany pulled it out and examined it.

"Apparently." She said. Alice looked impressed.

"How he managed that is beyond me. Lils?"

"Not a clue. As idiotic as those boys are, they're smart idiots." She sighed.

"I'll take it up to the room. I have to run back up to grab my charms book anyways." Alice said. "I can never remember the damn thing. See you all in Defense." Dany nodded and handed it to her as she left. Dany went back to eating—the rest of her meal flower free.

They reached Defense and saw that desks were all shoved to the side. Another practical.

"Hello, all! Now, we're going to be doing something exciting today!" Everyone started whispering. "Has anyone ever heard of the Patronus Charm?" A few people nodded, Dany included. Her parents had taught it to her and her brother years ago.

Their professor went into an explanation about how it worked and Dany mostly tuned it out, instead looking around the room and trying to decide what their Patronus would be.

They were set to practice about half an hour into class.

"Ever done it, Dan?" Alice asked. "I feel like your parents would've taught you." She added and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I have. It's been a while though."

"Ohh, what's your Patronus? It's form, I mean." Lily asked interestedly.

"It's a horse. It's the same as my dad's. His is bigger though—more manly and all of that." Dany said, waving her wand and focusing on her happiest memories. A horse came out of her wand and even though she wasn't real, she looked friendly and nuzzled Dany's shoulder, pushing her gently with her nose. Lily smiled and Marlene and Alice cooed.

"Well done, Miss Masters! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Their professor called. Dany smiled a little and turned her attention back to her Patronus so she didn't lose it. She momentarily turned her attention to the other half of the room, where it appeared that James had conjured his own stag. Remus produced a wolf—which Dany thought was actually quite sad—and Sirius produced a dog, which was completely unsurprising, just as James' stag had been. Those were their Animagi forms after all. Lily managed to get something that was almost corporeal by the end of the class and the rest of them had gotten as far as indistinct mist.

The purple tulips continued to appear. Dany found one in her bag during Charms and one in the place that her quill had been in moments before while she was in the library that night. Over the next week, five more a day appeared in increasingly inventive places—ranging from inside a book she checked out of the library to in the jar of crushed unicorn horn that Slughorn gave her and Lily for Potions.

Word had spread that Sirius and Dany's relationship was on the rocks, as they hadn't been seen talking since the dance and word had also spread that Dany was now finding flowers in the most random places, completely unannounced. Most people had put this together to assume that she was pissed off at Sirius and he was trying to get back into her good graces, which was exactly what was happening.

As for their relationship, Sirius hadn't tried to approach her, which Dany found simultaneously strange and insightful. She suspected that he was doing it because that was what he thought she wanted—which it actually was—and that he was keeping out of her way to prove a point: he _knew_ that she wouldn't want to see him. He might not be around, but the floral arrangement he was sending her one flower at a time was.

She was finding flowers everywhere and everyday the flower changed—despite them all being apology flowers, according to Alice. The first day it had been the purple tulips. The second day was white tulips. The third was pink carnations. The fourth was purple hyacinths. The fifth day—Friday—was roses and they were showing up _everywhere_.

Dany started out her day with breakfast, where she dropped her fork. When she looked back up from retrieving it, there was a white rose in her water glass when she went to take a drink. She pulled it out and her friends all exchanged looks.

"Alice?" Dany asked blandly, putting it down and taking a drink.

"Humility and innocence. Back before red roses were popular, they meant love." She said before returning to her coffee and studying. "Do you have a quill I can borrow?" Dany nodded and reached into her bag for her quill only to touch something else. "Paired with red roses it's the universal sign of 'I'm so sorry and I'm a terrible human being please forgive me'." She added as she read.

"Like this?" Dany asked, pulling a red rose out of her backpack. Alice looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, exactly like that. So, I'm going to say that that's a no on the quill?" She asked and Dany reached in again for her quill only to pull out another rose—white—and another—red—and another and another, alternating between red and white. Dany picked up her bag and looked in. There was nothing in there. She was going insane.

"You all see those too, right?" She asked and her friends looked up, nodding. "And there's nothing in my bag, right?" She asked, showing Lily her bag. Lily nodded in confirmation. "So, I'm not insane right?" Lily shook her head.

"No you're not insane. Those are real and they seem to be coming from nowhere." She said and Dany looked in her bag for a quill successfully extracting one and handing it to Alice.

Charms was next on their schedule and Dany found a white rose on her chair and when she picked her book up from her desk to leave at the end of class, there was a red rose hiding under it. Lily, who was sitting next to her, looked like she was mildly in awe. Dany looked around to find Sirius and he appeared to be in conversation with James, not paying attention. She would have thought that she was completely misreading it and it wasn't him at all, if it wasn't for the fact that Remus caught her eye and winked knowingly. She wasn't misunderstanding this at all.

"That makes eight _today_ , Dan." Alice said as they walked to their next class.

"Yeah, and we still have the rest of classes." Marlene said. "You have to admit that it's sweet." Lily rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lily—it is and you know it. Different flowers everyday all with special meanings? What do you want from the boy?"

"I _want_ him to get down on his knees and beg for her forgiveness." Lily sniffed, although she did seem to be softening. "He hasn't even tried to talk to her."

"Lily, I kind of appreciate that." Dany added into the conversation.

"Well, _I_ know that, but he doesn't!" Lily exclaimed, making a couple people look over at where Dany was holding her growing bouquet.

"I've already thought about that and I think he actually does know it. I think that's why he's doing it. Because he knows that I want space." Dany admitted.

"Yeah, if he thought that would help, he already would've tried it. It's not like he isn't putting the effort in." Alice said, gesturing to the flowers in Dany's hands. "He obviously wants her back."

"Just admit that it's sweet, Lily." Marlene sighed.

"Fine! It's really sweet. Happy?" Lily said, making the other girls laugh.

"Overjoyed." Marlene said as they walked into Transfiguration. "If he's sending her roses like there's a never-ending supply on day five, I don't want to even think about tomorrow. It's the last day before his week's up." She added.

"I doubt he'll do anything. Tomorrow's Quidditch." Dany said, shrugging. "We're all still going to the game, yeah?" She asked and they nodded.

"Yeah, if you don't mind—"

"Gryffindor's still my team and James is like my brother. I'll go to support him, if nothing else." Dany said and they all nodded as class started. Apparently Sirius wasn't feeling bold enough to perform magic right under McGonagall's nose and Dany didn't find any flowers during that class. Smart boy.

Muggle Studies was a different story. Professor Burbage was oblivious to everything to ever grace this planet and Dany found three more in that class.

Add that to the eight from that morning, the three more she found at lunch, the two more from Potions, and the three at dinner that night, and she had a total of twenty roses from within an eight-hour period. By the time she made it back to her dorm, she was practically drowning in flowers and Lily had to conjure a vase for them because the two they had were full from the first four days of the week.

"Are you going to forgive him? He's sent you like forty flowers." Marlene asked. "You're going to have to make a decision tomorrow, Dan." Dany nodded.

"I know. I want to, but I don't know…I'll figure it out." She sighed.

"I think he needs to do something personally instead of trying to magic his way out of this." Lily sniffed before Dany spent the rest of the night staring at the flowers that were all over their room in various vases.

* * *

The girls woke up on game day and got dressed. Dany ate her breakfast waiting for flowers to spring up and none did. Instead of being a relief, it actually only managed to set her on edge.

"Told you he wouldn't do anything on game day." Dany said as they made their way down to the Pitch for the game against Hufflepuff. "Those boys and their Quidditch." The other three nodded and just then, Dany heard James call her name.

"Oi! Dan!" She looked over to see him outside the locker rooms. "Come here." She waved to the girls, telling them to save her a seat. She walked over.

"Yeah, James? Is everything okay?" She asked, wondering why he was talking to her right before a game. He shrugged.

"That has yet to be seen. Sirius wants to talk to you before the game starts." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"What? James—"

"Just talk to him. Please. Even if you break it off, at least he'll bloody know and you both won't be stuck in limbo." He said and Dany smiled a little.

"You know, I call it that too." She said and James smiled. "I'll talk to him, but like hell am I going in that locker room. He can come out here." Dany added and James grinned, kissing her forehead.

"Wait right here." He said and left. Dany sighed and frantically tried to make up her mind. She honestly had no idea what she was going to do—despite the week she had to think it over. She started to examine her cuticles as she waited for someone to walk back out of the locker rooms.

"Dany?" She looked back up. It was Sirius and it was oddly welcoming to hear him say her name.

"James said you wanted to talk." She said. "For the first time in a week."

"I figured you'd want the time to yourself. I think that if I'd followed you around saying sorry you would have told me to piss off on about Tuesday." He admitted and she tried not to smile.

"Well, you're not wrong. Since we haven't spoken since it started, I haven't been able to say thank you for the flowers. They're really beautiful." She said softly.

"I'm glad you liked them. I figured you'd find them less annoying than having to actually see me." He said and she shrugged.

"I just—even after a week of thinking about it, I don't understand how you could think that I was cheating on you." She said softly, tears starting to well up.

"Logically, I didn't think that and I knew it was ridiculous. On the other hand, hearing people say it—just casually passing that around—put the doubt there. It was awful and even though I knew that you weren't, it bothered me that people were saying it—as if that made it real." He laughed scornfully at himself. Dany didn't like the sound. It sounded ugly and self-degrading. "And of course I didn't just ignore it because I'm not that secure in any of my relationships, let alone romantic ones because this is—or was, depending on how this conversation ends—really new to me and I don't know how it's supposed to work." Dany nodded.

"Is there anything else you want to say or tell me?" She asked, giving him the chance to say anything he wanted.

"Is this a trick question?" She shook her head, not missing the wary tone.

"No, I really meant it. Is there anything else?"

"Not really. There isn't anything else I _can_ say. I'm sorry and I know I can't take it back no matter how much I regret it and I can't expect you to forgive me. Break up with me if you want—it's your right." He said and she bit her lip and then something set in. The last sentence: break up with me if you want.

Ever since this had started, she had been nonstop comparing what was happening with Sirius to what had happened with Brady—except Sirius wasn't Brady. Brady had told her the exact opposite of that. Brady had told her that only he could end their relationship. This wasn't the same abusive relationship she had been in and it took this long for her to fully realize it.

Not to mention that Sirius literally never apologized to anyone—well, he did but in a lot of words that _weren't_ 'I'm sorry'.

Dany nodded a little without thinking, meaning 'yeah, I forgive you'. Judging by his face, Sirius took it as 'yeah, I'm breaking up with you'. In case Dany had been wondering if he actually loved her, that facial expression erased any doubt.

"Right, well I'll see you around I suppose." He mumbled and went to turn around. Dany rolled her eyes to herself, grabbed him by the Quidditch jersey, turned him back towards her, and kissed him. It took him a second to realize what was happening, but he kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her hands between their chests. She broke off the kiss, but didn't move out of his arms.

"I meant that I forgive you, not that I'm breaking up with you, you idiot." She murmured and he smiled. "But if this happens again, I _will_ let Lily kill you."

"I've missed you so much." He said and touched her face gently. "God, I've missed you." He whispered and kissed her again, much less enthusiastically and much more gently.

"Oi, Black! Stop snogging your girlfriend and get into the locker room!" Dany heard Toby shout and Sirius ignored him, making Dany smile against his mouth.

"Yeah, Padfoot! Stop snogging your—wait, never mind!" That was James, apparently just now realizing that if they were snogging, then they weren't breaking up. "Please continue if that's what needs to be done." Dany felt Sirius move a hand off her back and suspected that he was flipping James off as he kissed her. He broke off the kiss a couple moments later and smiled a little.

"I should probably go. I think Toby's going to murder me." He said and Dany tried not to laugh. "I've already made him wait long enough." Dany looked around Sirius to see Toby standing in the doorway to the locker room, arms crossed and tapping his foot.

"Probably. Kick Hufflepuff's ass, yeah?" She said, trying not to giggle.

"Obviously." He said and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Dan." He murmured into her skin and she smiled a little.

"I love you too. Don't die." She said and started to walk away, waving cheerily at Toby as she went.

* * *

Much to their friends' excitement—and the rest of the castle's shock—two weeks later, Dany and Sirius were actually stronger as a couple and Sirius largely credited the fact that they had managed to come out the other side of a major fight intact. He didn't know if that was the sign of a strong relationship or if the fight itself had made it stronger and he didn't really care as long as they stayed together.

Also, they were back to snogging in obscure places in the castle and McGonagall was continuously catching them. The third time she caught them, she decided to write home to their families (or in Sirius' case, the Potters. She wanted discipline, not for the Blacks to murder Sirius).

Dany and Sirius had been called into her office a day after being caught and it appeared that Daniel had written Professor McGonagall back. The letter started out highly official, coming in an envelope sealed with wax stamped with the seal of the Minister's office and on parchment marked as from the desk of the Minister of Magic. McGonagall broke the seal in front of them, probably wanting them to hear the earful that Daniel was about to give his daughter about how terrible this all was. She was expecting Daniel Masters to demand that his daughter value her chastity or modesty more than she was.

He did just the opposite.

Daniel started by very politely thanking Professor McGonagall for writing him. He then proceeded to tell her that his daughter's sexuality was her choice and if Dany chose to snog Sirius in broom cupboards, then that was okay with him because humans are sexual creatures. He finished by adding that if she ever needed to learn more about contraceptives, she just needed to write home to either of her parents.

Sirius pretty much had to carry Dany out of McGonagall's office she was laughing so hard and he was pretty sure that he had cracked a rib himself.

A day after that, McGonagall called them back once more because Charlie and Dorea had written back on Sirius' behalf and McGonagall was looking for justice from at least one set of parents.

She didn't get it.

Dorea and Charlie said the same as Daniel—Charlie emphasizing that while safe sex meant contraceptives, it also meant a loving relationship where both partners trusted the other. Dorea proceeded to write that as long as they were safe, then there was nothing wrong with physical affection and that neither her nor her husband were going to shame their son for it.

It was Dany's turn to carry Sirius out of McGonagall's office through her tears because that was legitimately the best thing he'd ever received in a letter and was about in hysterics from laughter.

A few days later, Dany received a letter from her mother directly and not through McGonagall. She was slightly more disapproving than Daniel had been, but she had written her daughter to tell her that if they were going to have sex, then both of them—and not just Sirius because "honestly with all those girlfriends you say he's had, he's not a virgin"—should be aware of contraceptive options. She gave a list of options and then had enclosed mail away forms for the potion.

"Only your family, Dan." Sirius had laughed when she had shown it to him. "Should we bother telling them that we haven't shagged?" He added. Dany laughed loudly before looking around hastily for Madam Pince. She had dragged Sirius into the library to study with her because—even though he didn't want to admit it, OWLs were approaching quickly and everyone was scrambling to get their heads wrapped around everything they had learned in the past five years.

"I think they know. If Mom thought we were shagging, she wouldn't have sent order forms—she would have sent the real thing." Dany said, her cheeks noticeably flushing. "Can you explain this to me? Charms and I are having a disagreement and this book as about as dense as they come." She said, quickly changing the subject and pointing to a passage in the textbook in front of her. Sirius let her shift the topic away from her burning red cheeks and read what she was pointing at.

"Do you think we have time for a slight detour before we head to dinner?" Dany asked as they walked from the library to the Great Hall. Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked over at her. She looked like she was asking to detour to Charms to ask Professor Flitwick a question—and not the broom cupboard or empty classroom he knew she was talking about.

"I reckon so. I also reckon McGonagall's at dinner." He said and she grinned.

"Excellent because all of this studying is really stressing me out." She sighed dramatically as they turned into a much less populated part of the castle.

"I really think you need to do something about that. It's just not healthy." Sirius said with a straight face.

"Care to help?" She asked, laughing as she pulled him into a broom cupboard and locked the door behind them, covering them both in darkness. Sirius went to light his wand, but Dany caught his hand—well, she tried to and touched his arm. "Don't." She murmured from somewhere in front of him. He couldn't see at all and wouldn't have known where Dany was if she hadn't been pushed against him.

He put his wand away and felt her fingers tracing up his arm, trying to find his face. She kissed him gently once she located his mouth, sucking on his bottom lip as her hands fumbled, trying to pull his shirt off. Sirius kissed her back, realizing that he hadn't ever snogged—or shagged—someone in the complete dark either and he was definitely clumsier like this. Dany finally pushed his shirt off him and Sirius heard her moan quietly as he kissed her neck, his hands moving to slip up her shirt to grip her hips. Except her shirt was gone.

"Dan? Where did your shirt go?" He murmured.

"Hm? Oh, it's on the floor I think." She mumbled into his neck. "Right next to my bra." She added, running her fingers down his chest. Sirius momentarily had heart palpitations as he realized that she was completely topless and he _couldn't see_. He reached around and ran a finger down her spine and sure enough, it was just skin—no bra strap, no shirt, nothing.

"Can I turn a light on?"

"Lights stay off. You can touch, but you can't look." She murmured.

"That's opposite how most things work." He said and he heard her laugh and could feel her smile against where she was kissing his neck.

"I suppose it is, isn't it?" She said as Sirius pulled her closer to him and felt her bare chest against his, her heart rapidly beating. "Take what you can get, Sirius. This is further than anyone's ever gotten." She added.

"One question." He mumbled as they both gasped for air a moment later.

"Hm?"

"What color are your nipples?" He asked while reaching down and tracing patterns on one of her breasts until he found her nipple. He heard her breath hitch for a second when he brushed it with a finger. "What color, love?" He whispered into her ear when she didn't answer.

"Pink." She whispered back. "They're pink."

"What kind of pink?" He murmured, bending down to suck on the aforementioned nipple. He felt her fingers run through his hair as she whimpered. "Light? Dark? Let me use my imagination, love." He asked, returning to her neck.

"Light pink." She whispered. Sirius didn't need to hear anymore before he could more than happily snog his topless girlfriend, substituting actually seeing her breasts with a lovely mental image and the feeling of her pressed against him.

"Decent?" He asked her in the dark and got an affirmative answer before unlocking the door and peeking outside. No one. "Alright, let's go." Sirius said, turning around to look at Dany for the first time since they had entered the broom cupboard. Dany looked pretty disheveled, although she was quickly remedying that with various cosmetic spells, resetting her lipstick and unwrinkling her shirt magically before pulling her hair back into a French braid. She smiled at him cheerily and walked out, taking his hand. "Feel better?" He asked and she laughed.

"So much better. Thanks for the stress relief."

"Thanks for the incredibly lewd and inappropriate thoughts you've managed to put in my head." Sirius replied and she shrugged. "Brady really never saw you topless?" He asked suddenly.

"Neither have you, you know." She said. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "No, he didn't. He never saw—or touched—me without a shirt and bra." Dany said and Sirius realized quite quickly why she had chosen to keep the lights off: it was her version of easing into sex. She was more self-conscious about how she looked (quite ridiculously) than she cared about him touching her. It wasn't a fear of vulnerability or intimacy: it was fear of judgment.

"Well, it's his loss because from what I could feel, you have a body that could start wars." He said and her face turned bright red.

"Oh, um thanks. Do you know what time it is?" She asked suddenly, once again diverting attention from herself.

"It's…fuck were we really in there for over an hour?" Sirius said. Dany grabbed his wrist to examine his watch.

"We were in a broom cupboard for over an hour." She said faintly. "No wonder I'm bloody starved."

"Kitchens?"

"Kitchens." Dany agreed, letting Sirius pull her in a different direction by her hand, towards the kitchens. "I never asked how you made Brady break out into boils all over his body." She said after a couple minutes of silent walking. Sirius froze. How she had figured out it was him was anyone's guess.

"Who said that was me? There are plenty of blokes who have it out for him." Sirius said and Dany snorted.

"Please. You hear a rumor that Brady's been telling people that I'm easy and the next day he shows up with boils everywhere that spell out 'liar' on his forehead?" She said skeptically. "I'm not stupid enough to call that chance or coincidence." She had a point. "So, how'd you do it?"

"I paid a First Year to go put some…unfortunate potions into his soap." Sirius admitted and Dany laughed, rolling his eyes.

"At least tell me that you paid the kid well."

"Five galleons. I figured he wouldn't talk if I overpaid him." Sirius said and Dany chuckled again.

"Well, it was ingenious—and also very fitting. Now, I have to know: where they _everywhere_?"

"Anywhere he washes, so probably." Sirius said and Dany started really and truly laughing. "Maybe his bits and pieces will still be painful when we play Ravenclaw next weekend." She smiled.

"The Cup—I almost forgot. Excited?" She asked and Sirius nodded.

"Obviously. I mean Toby thinks our chances are almost 100%. That's no reason to get overconfident—but still." Sirius said, grinning at the idea of winning the Quidditch Cup again for Gryffindor. "Can't wait to kick their asses."

"Well, you're going to have to wait another week to do that."

"What do you want to do this weekend?" Sirius asked and Dany shrugged. "We haven't had any time together without either studying or snogging since the fight and as much as I love both of those things—"

"We need to spend some time talking." Dany finished off and he nodded.

"Normally, I'd say Hogsmeade date, but I'm not feeling it this weekend." Sirius said and Dany nodded.

"Me neither. I'll leave it up to you, yeah?"

He should have known what he was getting into when he started dating a girl whose father treated her mother like she was more precious than diamonds—it was only natural for Dany to expect the same from her partner. Oddly, as stressful as he found trying to plan things, he didn't really mind if it made her happy.


	27. His Heart Was Stone, Now His Hands Roam

Hey! So, this is a nice happy (kind of smutty) chapter to balance out the incredibly depressing one I just posted on Feel Again. This was supposed to be in a couple chapters, but I switched it with this one because I couldn't do it to you guys.

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

* * *

 _Taking it slow, but it's not typical_  
 _He already knows that my love is fire_  
 _His heart was a stone, but then his hands roam_  
 _I turned him to gold and it took him higher_

 _Oh, I'll be your daydream, I'll wear your favorite things_  
 _We could be beautiful_  
 _Get drunk on the good life, I'll take you to paradise_  
 _Say you'll never let me go_

 _~Roses,_ The Chainsmokers

* * *

Lily of all people was Sirius' savior. She—and the rest of their friends—was going down to Hogsmeade, but she gave Sirius something pretty perfect when he had run into her without Dany: the password to the Prefect's bathroom.

"Dan?" Sirius asked as they sat in their usual spot during their morning run. She looked over at him. It was the day of the Hogsmeade trip and he hadn't mentioned any form of date since they had first discussed it.

"Yeah?"

"You know how you told me to figure something out for today?" She nodded. "I figured something out. You have a swimsuit, right?"

"I'm not getting in the lake with that bloody squid, Sirius." She said warily, like that was exactly what she was expecting to hear. It had been on the list of possibilities, to be fair.

"No, no not the Black Lake. You have one, right?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I have one. Why do I need it?" He kissed her nose.

"You'll see—once everyone leaves for Hogsmeade." He said and she smiled a little, nodding.

"Okay, Mr. Mysterious. Are you going to tell me where I should meet you?" She asked, obviously intrigued.

"Common room at noon? They stop letting people leave the castle at eleven so that should be fine. Come in the swimsuit—and probably a cover-up because we're leaving the common room." He said and she nodded.

Sirius wished his friends a good trip and killed a bit more time before shoving on swim trunks and heading down to the common room at noon. Dany was already sitting there in what appeared to be a giant t-shirt and no pants, barefoot.

"Why do you insist on no shoes?" He asked, making her jump.

"Because I enjoy bare feet. Not to mention that I don't want to ruin any shoes I own in water—which I'm assuming is involved somehow." She said and took his hand as he led her out of the common room and into the abandoned hallways. "Where are we going?" She asked. "I've never been to this part of the castle."

"Well, your dear best friend kindly gave me the password to the Prefects' bathroom so we're going to try to figure out how it works." He said and she laughed. "I figured you wouldn't want to go naked, so I asked about the swimsuit. I mean you _could_ go naked if you wanted…" She smacked his arm. "I thought as much." He added and gave the password to the portrait.

"Wow." Dany said, looking around. "Let's turn them all on and see what happens." She added before leaning down and starting to turn the different spouts on. Sirius turned on a few and laughed, as she seemed to be enjoying this greatly. Dany cautiously stuck a hand in the tub full of water and bubbles. "God, that feels so good. I haven't taken a bath in so long." She said. "This was a good one, Sirius. I wasn't expecting this." She added. "Now, I'm getting in before the water gets cold. Come on." She said and pulled on his hand towards the bathtub.

She pulled her giant t-shirt off and indeed she hadn't been wearing pants—just a dark red 2-piece. The bottoms left very little of her butt to the imagination and the top didn't even have straps. It looked like the much prettier, aquatic cousin of the strapless bra. Dany put her hair into a bun on the top of her head and turned to look at him. Sirius was currently trying to remember how to breathe and was wondering when his mouth had gotten so dry.

"Yes?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. He shook his head.

"Nothing. Come on." He said and pulled his shirt off before helping her into the bathtub. "This feels incredible." He commented as he leaned back against the side of the tub. Dany nodded as she sat down, situating herself so she was tucked under his arm and leaned against the side of the tub as well.

"I know. I need to thank Lily for giving you the password." She sighed and absently rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why do you have your hair up?" Sirius asked and she looked over. He was actually quite sad to lose her head on his shoulder.

"Oh, it's to keep my hair from getting wet, but I suppose that's rather stupid as we're in a bathtub and not a pool." She said and tugged her hair down from the bun it had been, placing the hair tie just outside of the tub and letting her hair fall down around her, the ends of the silver hair turning darker in the water. It could almost be considered blonde—platinum blonde, but still blonde. She readjusted so her head was back on his shoulder and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Hey, Dan?" He said after a little while of silence. She made a sound of acknowledgement. "You're really beautiful." Her eyes opened and she looked over at him, lifting her head up and obviously surprised.

"I—thank you." She murmured. "No one but my family or Lily has ever called me beautiful before." She added quietly.

"Not even Brady…?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I was a lot of things to Brady, but that wasn't one of them."

"You really _are_ beautiful." She smiled a little, her face was turning pink, but Sirius couldn't tell if it was from the heat of the bath or the compliment.

"Thank you." She murmured and he touched her face, cupping her cheek with his hand. She leaned into his touch and he saw a faint smile cross her face…then before he knew what had happened, she had splashed him with water.

"Dany!" He shouted and her could hear her laughs from somewhere else in the bathtub—the tub was too full to see very far past the bubbles in the immediate area. "Really? You just killed a really beautiful moment."

"Come on, if you kept going on with that any longer I was going to cry. This is much better." He heard her say. He looked around, trying to sort through the mass of bubbles, only to feel a hand grab his ankle.

Before Sirius could stop himself, he screamed—quite like he had screamed before puberty had done its job. Dany came up for air and started laughing.

"Oh my God—I don't even scream that shrilly." She gasped, bubbles sticking to her now soaking hair. "Do the guys know that you sound like a twelve-year-old when you scream?" She asked, unable to wipe the grin from her face. He splashed her with water and scowled, just making her laugh harder. She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Aw, don't be that way, love. Don't be angry with me. I promise not to tell anyone that you sound like a little girl when you're surprised." Dany whispered, pouting at him.

He wrapped his arms around her and before she could stop him, he dunked both of them underwater, making her yelp in surprise—quite shrilly, he noted with satisfaction. He let her up to breathe and she frowned at him.

"Unfair." She huffed. " _I_ didn't try and drown you." She pointed out. Sirius wrapped his arms around his girlfriend with a grin.

"Aw, _don't be that way_ , love." She rolled her eyes. "I promise not to tell anyone you sound like a little girl when you're surprised." He repeated at her.

"I _am_ a girl, you dolt." She whispered back. "Your hair is sticking out everywhere." She added. "It looks like James' hair right now." Sirius quickly ran a hand through it, trying to defuse what apparently looked like James' bird's nest. She ran her own hair back through it, messing it back up. "It's cute—leave it." She said and suddenly Sirius became aware of how close they were and how scantily clothed.

"Have you ever snogged someone in the water?" He asked and she grinned.

"Can't say I have. You?"

"Nope."

"I get to be the first girlfriend to snog you somewhere. _Finally_." She laughed and straddled his lap, pushing him up against the side of the tub, before kissing him hungrily. He kissed her back and absently realized that she was rubbing her body on his and grinding her hips into his, probably without realizing she was doing it. All the while, he could feel her top inching its way down.

"Dan, your top's about to become really useless." He whispered once they had stopped snogging momentarily to breathe. She looked down and indeed her top was about an inch off from exposing her nipples.

"Shit. Close your eyes." She murmured and he did. "No peeking." She added and he rolled his eyes even though they were closed. He felt something land on his head and silently hoped it wasn't something awful. "Okay, you can open." She said and he immediately reached up to see what she had put on his head. He pulled it off his head and realized it was her top. That meant…Dany was still straddling his lap just as she had been, except she was now topless and the only things hiding her body from him were the bubbles and her bottoms. He shooed the bubbles away and he finally got a look at the breasts he'd been having dreams about ever since he'd felt them in the dark. Her nipples _were_ light pink and her skin was creamy porcelain.

"You're so beautiful, love." He said without thinking, running a thumb under one of her areolas. He felt her breath hitch as she watched him touch her.

"Like what you see?"

"I've waited to see this for years and I'm definitely not disappointed. I love what I see." He murmured and he heard her moan as he took one of her breasts into his mouth and started sucking on one of her quickly hardening nipples.

"We're going to get caught." Dany moaned, her head rolling back as Sirius continued to touch her and kiss her everywhere he could get to. He personally didn't care if they got caught. "This _is_ the prefects' bathroom."

"We can take this somewhere else if you want." He said.

"Can it not be a broom cupboard?" He nodded, handing her top back to her.

"I was thinking more like my room. That sounds a bit more comfortable." He said and she nodded, taking the hand he offered her to help her out of the bathtub. She found her wand and dried them both off magically before replacing her top and putting on her t-shirt again.

They walked—ran was more like it, really—back to the common room holding hands and laughing. Sirius realized that the sun was starting to go down: they had been longer than he had thought. There was probably another hour or so until people started to come back, so he dismissed it and practically carried his girlfriend up the stairs to his room. The door closed and they both started undressing each other again, Sirius all but ripping her bikini top off her before settling her in his bed, somehow managing to never break the kiss they were currently wrapped up in. He crawled in bed with her and closed the curtains quickly. When she reached down for his pants, he stopped her hand.

"Are you on the potion?" He asked while coherent thoughts were still present. She nodded. "You were planning to do this, weren't you?" She nodded again. "Clever girl." Smirk. "Let me help you out of those bottoms, love." He said and reached down, hooking his fingers on the sides of her bikini bottoms and pulling them off her body, leaving her completely naked and sprawled across his bed.

He reached down and pulled his own clothes off, watching Dany's eyes run up his body. She looked curious more than anything and he realized that this was probably the first time she had seen a naked man in person. Sirius rolled on top of her, but kept his weight off her, examining her face. She didn't look afraid or anxious—something he assumed she would be.

"Are you sure about this, love?" She nodded, touching his face gently. "Tell me if I hurt you, okay? I'm not joking. Tell me and we'll stop." He said and she smiled a little, kissing his lips quickly.

"Go ahead, Sirius. I trust you." She whispered and he slowly pushed into her, watching her face for anything that indicated discomfort and tried not to give in and have his way with her. This time couldn't be about his pleasure—not when he could hurt her. Dany's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly, almost in surprise.

"Talk to me, Dan. Stop, keep going, what?" He said, firmly telling himself that he wasn't going to do anything until she said either way. She wiggled around a little. Sirius guessed that she was trying to get used to having him inside of her.

"Keep going." She said, nodding a little. "I'm okay—it's just going to take a bit of getting used to." He nodded and kissed her before continuing to push in and out of her, still watching for anything that spoke of pain. Suddenly, her entire body just relaxed; her body had been putting up a fuss and she had been almost painfully tight—all of her muscles looked and felt tense—until she quite suddenly relaxed.

"Dany? You okay?" He asked and she nodded, dragging his face down to hers.

"I'm fantastic." She whispered and she appeared to actually mean it. "God that feels so good." Well, that was unexpected.

* * *

Sirius absently ran his hand down Dany's exposed back. Her head was on his chest and the sheets had fallen down to around her hips. Her hair was everywhere, on the pillows, on him, and some of it had fallen into her face. He was in boxers and she was completely lacking clothes seeing that she had practically passed out after they had finished a few hours ago. She was peacefully sleeping in his arms and he had been alternating between staring at her and the ceiling.

He looked up at the shut curtains around his bed as she shifted and pressed her face closer to his body. His bed. He had actually just slept with someone in his own bed. That had always been something he swore never to do. There were a lot of things he had sworn never to do with girls. This was at the top of the list. He never brought girls to his room, he always went to them, mainly as a courtesy to his roommates, but also because he liked being able to leave. He was pretty sure he had just broken at least four of those rules in the last six hours.

They had been dating for a little over two months. He had actually waited for two months to be with her. He had waited for her longer than most of his other relationships had lasted from start to finish; then again, this was a different relationship and she was a very different girl. Suddenly, Dany's eyes flickered open. She blinked a few times as she looked up at him. He smiled at her.

"Hey." She said softly; he always had thought that something about her was ethereal, almost angelic. And lying on his chest looking up at him with sleep all over her voice, Dany Masters looked much more vulnerable than usual.

"Hello yourself, sleepyhead." He murmured and she smiled, pushing her hair out of her face to reach up and kiss him. "I didn't know that I bore people to such an extent that they fall into a deep slumber." He joked. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You're not boring, Sirius. If we're going to talk about what just happened, I don't think I'd put 'boring' on my list of adjectives." She said, her cheeks turning slightly pink—then again, maybe it was the red curtains around them giving her face the rosy appearance. "How long was I asleep?" She asked, rubbing her eyes a little.

"A couple hours. I was surprised when you fell asleep and stayed that way." He admitted and her cheeks definitely turned red this time.

"Is that unusual?" She asked, suddenly seeming very self-conscious.

"I've never seen it before, but then again I've never stuck around long enough to notice one way or the other." He admitted and she raised an eyebrow.

"You just shagged and then left?" She asked. He kissed her forehead.

"Not anymore, beautiful." He murmured. Dany smiled and relaxed into his chest, starting to trace the scars on his chest. Sirius supposed that the concealment charms he kept on them when he knew he'd be without a shirt had worn off.

"What changed your mind? The fact I just fell asleep and you couldn't kick me out?" She laughed.

"Hm, something like that." He said absently. She snorted.

"I'll stay awake long enough to leave next time." She said, obviously amused.

"No, I've quite given up on that recently." He said and she rolled over to look at him directly.

"What?"

"Yeah…oh, you want to know what exactly you've done to me." She smiled.

"You bet I do. All girls like being told they're special." She said.

"Don't judge me too hard though. I'm a changed man, I swear…so, I've never slept with anyone in my own bed; this is definitely a first," He motioned around, "And I've never actually spent the night with someone—"

"You've never fallen asleep next to the girl you had just…been with?" She asked softly, obviously phrasing it delicately.

"No, I haven't. It always seemed so personal. And talking after always freaked me out…so I usually left as soon as we, um, finished. I never really cared about any of their problems enough to listen, honestly. And I avoided virgins," she looked mildly uncomfortable and he felt her shift a little, "not because I hate them, I clearly don't, but it just seemed like so much responsibility. I didn't want to ruin someone for life by being awful in bed. And I've been a horrible boyfriend; being considerate is something I've never really felt the need to be. I just—God this sounds awful and it really is—never wanted to take the time to do it right, so I never did. Saying this out loud to someone that isn't James makes this sound so bad." He said uncomfortably.

"So I just broke what? Five of your rules? Because you definitely took the time to do it right." She said and he could see her smile a little. He felt her trace a scar on his chest.

"Six, actually."

"You only said five; I've been counting. What's the sixth?" She said and he rolled his eyes at the fact she'd counted.

"You're touching it." Her hand stopped outlining the crisscrossing scars over his heart. "No one's ever seen them—not all of them at least. Of course, the guys have seen some purely because we live together and accidents happen." She propped herself up on an elbow to look him in the eye.

"Why do you hide these?" She asked gently. He knew she wasn't just talking about his chest; there were scars all over his body, on his chest, stomach, and back.

"Because they're ugly. No one wants to see all of this." He told her.

"I like seeing them—they're a part of you." She said quietly, kissing him gently, almost lovingly. He looked at her skeptically. "I do." She added before nestling back into his chest and resuming drawing patterns on his chest. "Now, are you going to tell me the other four of these rules? I fully intend to break them all."

"Oh really? You think you can convince me to break all of these rules for you?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm doing pretty well so far. Besides, I know how you feel about rules. When was the last time you _actually_ followed all of them?" She said with a cocky grin.

"I see your point…well you've technically already busted another one too." He admitted and she smirked.

"Oh really?"

"I've never actually met any of my girlfriends' parents. And I know I met yours when I was thirteen when we were just friends but I think being threatened with Dementors by your father counts as meeting the girlfriend's parents."

"So seven down, three to go." She said and he laughed. "Alright, what are the other three? I'm on a roll."

"I've never let anyone borrow my clothes, specifically Quidditch shirts. And I've never had a girlfriend on Valentine's Day. I _always_ put my friends first, but that doesn't even count right now; you were a friend first so you're number one in my playbook at the moment." He said. She grinned.

"I fully intend to break those…later. Now that I know how you feel about girls spending the night, I'm just going to go before I fall back asleep—" She said with a grin and he tightened his arms around her to keep her from getting up.

"No you're not going anywhere, Danilynn. You're warm, I don't know where your clothes are, and there's no way I'm letting you walk back to your dorm naked. Besides, I like you just where you are." He said.

"I like it here too and I'm enjoying breaking all of your rules." Dany mumbled and almost immediately fell asleep.

"I'm enjoying it too." He said quietly once she was asleep. Not five minutes after the words passed his lips he fell asleep too.

* * *

Sirius' eyes opened to sunlight muted by the curtains around his bed. He went to stretch but was stopped by a comfortable weight on top of him. Dany, he remembered. Dany had stayed last night. All he knew was that she was asleep on top of him, naked, slightly heavy, and very welcome. He briefly considered waking her up. She sighed contentedly and he dismissed the idea. She looked so peaceful and relaxed; it was a look she never wore when she was awake.

Her father would bring her and her brother into his study when she was at home and talk to them about the war, let them hash out the details of how they'd handle the Ministry—argue and fight over how things should be done.

She and Rhaegar would come to agreements, using collateral damage and civilian casualties as bargaining chips. If Dany wanted to save a town in Wales with advance knowledge they'd obtained through espionage, she'd have to give Rhaegar's inside man the protection he wanted and allow a raid to happen in Ireland to protect his cover. If Rhaegar wanted to send Law Enforcement to flush out a Death Eater camp, Dany would force the issue and say that the Aurors for it would have to come from a part of the country where there weren't any residences of Ministry officials.

The most stressful part was that the choices they were making weren't just practice. They were very real. Daniel was taking their council into consideration in real life. They were being trained to lead if their parents should falter or die.

Without any warning, Dany's eyes opened and she blinked in the light. She looked around and he felt her toes curl by his calves as she stretched. She looked at him and smiled.

"Hi. How long have you been awake?" She asked.

"Not long. I thought about getting you up but you looked pretty happy where you were." He told her and kissed her softly, which she returned sloppily, obviously still partially asleep; she almost completely missed his mouth.

"Thank you. I hardly ever sleep that well, to be honest. I don't feel sleep deprived for once." She said and sat up next to him, rolling her shoulders and yawning, letting the sheets fall down, leaving her completely exposed, hips up. Her hair was messy and was definitely flatter on the side she had slept on last night. It was almost comical that her usually well-maintained hair looked so crazy.

"I'm glad to hear it. I have to say that I'm usually not that quiet at night either." He admitted and she frowned for a moment, turning to face him.

"What? Why?" She asked, obviously not liking that answer.

"Oh, I'm a bit prone to nightmares is all." He said. "You have a hickey on your neck." He added.

"Tell me about the nightmares." She asked, ignoring the topic of the bruise on her neck. "Not like what happened during Spring Break?" He didn't say anything and her eyes softened. "Oh, Sirius." She sighed leaning down, propping herself up on an elbow to look at him. "Does anyone know?" She asked and he shook his head as she examined his face. "Can I help?" She whispered, looking like she genuinely meant it.

"No, Dan I don't think that there's anything you can do. I think it's something I have to handle on my own." He said and she nodded, kissing his cheek gently.

"If there's anything you can think of, let me know okay?" He nodded. "Now, tell me about this hickey." She added. He reached down and touched the bruise on the side of her neck.

"It's right there." He said. Her eyes widened, her hand going to her neck to prod it gently. "It's just a little thing." She nodded, moving her hand away from it. It was just a little red mark probably about the size of a Knut, if not smaller. "Sorry about that." She shrugged.

"I can just cover it up with makeup—it's not a big deal, but don't ever leave me looking like I've been attacked by a vampire." She said.

"I think I can manage that. You know, Masters, you didn't leave me with anything to remember you by. I'm feeling neglected." He teased.

"I was more concerned about not being horrible in general, if you must know." She said. She _hadn't_ been horrible—she'd actually been pretty decent considering it was her first time.

"Dan, you definitely weren't horrible. Congratulations." He said with a laugh.

"Next time, I'll leave you something to remind you of that. For now, I should probably go back to my room and shower. You wouldn't happen to know where my clothes are, would you?" Sirius poked his head around and found her clothes on the floor between his bed and his nightstand. He grabbed them and handed them to her.

"Guys?" He called out experimentally and no one answered. "No one's here, you can actually get out of bed to get dressed." He told her and she took her clothes and got up to put her clothes on. On her way out she turned around and grinned—obviously knowing that he had been checking her ass out as she had been getting dressed—before leaving.

* * *

"So, do you know if Dany has given it up to Sirius?" Marlene asked Lily as they were idly doing homework in their room. Lily looked at her, amused.

"No, Marlene I don't know; she's kind of…private about parts of their relationship. The, um, intimate part is one she keeps to herself. My guess is no, but it's bound to happen." Lily said, absently chewing on the end of her quill.

"Aw, it's so sweet really; they're so sweet. It makes me jealous. I want a super hot boyfriend that's been in love with me since I was twelve." She said and Lily rolled her eyes.

"You know Remus has had a thing for you since forever right?"

"Yeah…but it's just not the same as the fairytale love story that they have going on. Speaking of them, did they ever come back from their run this morning? It's past 10." Marlene said.

"I don't know…I haven't seen her since yesterday. Have you?" Lily asked the girl. Marlene raised an eyebrow.

"No, not since we left for Hogsmeade yesterday…what did she say last time you saw her?" Marlene said and Lily was trying to push panic away; she was fine, she probably had just fallen asleep in the common room or something. Dany was fine. Dany was always fine.

"Not much. Just that she was going to have a quiet day in…with Sirius." Lily said and both of their eyes widened, just as Dany herself walked in—looking like she was in yesterday's clothes.

"Danilynn Masters, have you been where I think you've been?" Lily asked her and Dany looked momentarily panicked.

"Well that depends on where you think I've been, Lily." Marlene jumped in.

"You and Sirius just did it, didn't you?" The blonde asked and Dany blushed.

"You did." Lily said and Dany nodded as she sat down on her bed. "What was it like?" She asked, unable to help herself. Dany bit her lip, as if she was torn between telling them to mind their own business and just telling them.

"Uh, it was okay…I mean I don't know what you want me to say, Lils." She said uncomfortably. Marlene seemed really excited by this. She had been waiting for one of them to lose their virginity for a while now, just so she could get the details.

"How was he about the fact you are…or _were,_ a virgin?" She asked and Lily thought that Marlene's question was a valid one. Except Sirius had known the entire time she was a virgin. "You _did_ tell him, didn't you?" She added on and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I told him beforehand; he's known for a while, ever since Brady…I may or may not have mentioned that I refused to sleep with him and that was why we broke up." She said with a shrug. Lily noticed something on her neck.

"Dan, what's on your neck?" She asked and Dany looked confused before she realized what Lily was talking about. Her face turned bright red.

"Oh, that? That's just…well it's—yeah, I have no good excuse for that." She said, trying to come up with an answer. Marlene's mouth dropped open.

"Is that a hickey?" She asked and Dany smiled, unable to hide the fact that she thought that this entire conversation was ridiculous.

"That's what happens when you kiss a little too hard, Marlene." Dany said sarcastically, clearly amused.

"That's nice—real wholesome…was he any good?" Marlene prodded and judging by the look on her face, Marlene was verging on territory that Dany wasn't going to talk about.

"I think the better question is if he hurt you." Lily added on and Dany's face turned redder than it already was, if that was possible.

"I guess so…I don't have any experience so how would I know?" She said and Lily raised an eyebrow as if to say 'don't you ignore my question'. "And no Lily, he didn't hurt me outside of the unavoidable."

"Good. I didn't want to have to go beat him up…but I would have if he hadn't taken good care of you." Lily sniffed. Lily suspected that Sirius had gone to great lengths to keep her as comfortable as possible and she just wasn't saying so.

"Well that's one way to put it, Lily. I'm going to go shower, you guys; the sound of fresh clothes sounds really nice right now." She said before getting up and walking into the bathroom.

"Marlene, how invasive could you possibly get?" Lily chided the other girl and Marlene shrugged.

"I'm just curious…besides, sex is meant to be talked about." Marlene retorted and Lily shook her head.

"You know how they are; it's not like they're exactly super into public displays of affection. They like to keep anything more than quick kisses private. I personally think that it's really sweet." Lily commented and Marlene shrugged.

"I just think that it's sad that we're her best friends and we don't even know if he's a good snog. Especially you, Lils; you're like her bloody sister and she won't even tell _you_." Marlene said and Lily had to admit that she had a point.

"Yeah, but I still think it's sweet even though I'd like to know a little more than I do." Lily admitted, but still stuck to her original assessment. "I think that the privacy they both want is part of how different their relationship is—compared to his previous ones, I mean. Besides, she _has_ told me that it's not just her that likes things private; Sirius wants all the privacy they can get." Lily said.

"You're saying that it's Mr. Snog Over Breakfast that wants all the hush-hush secrecy?" She asked and Lily thought about it for a second before nodding.

"A few years ago, Potter told me that Sirius had a list of things he wouldn't do in terms of girls. Potter thought that it was like his version of virginity and that he was waiting on someone he'd give it up for." Lily said. Marlene raised an eyebrow.

"You're saying that that was Dany? That he was waiting for her this _entire time_?" Marlene asked skeptically and Lily nodded.

"Just think about it; he willingly, happily even, traded in snogging over breakfast for holding hands and carrying his girlfriend's books. I mean you saw him kiss her the day we came back from Spring Break, same as I did; that wasn't meant for the public, that wasn't meant for _anyone_ but them. To say that he doesn't want to put something that personal on display for the entire school to see wouldn't be that huge of a jump." Lily said.

"That's true; I never really thought about it…and of everyone I know, no one deserves a loving and caring relationship more than Dan does, especially after the complete fuckup that her relationship with Brady was." Marles said and Lily wholeheartedly agreed with that.

"He got what he deserved with an extra helping of vengeful Quidditch players, believe me." Lily said darkly.

"Does he ever kind of scare you sometimes?" Marlene asked quietly. Lily thought it over.

"Sirius?" Marlene nodded in confirmation. "A little…but I think that it's mainly his size. I mean he's what? 6 foot 4? 6 foot 5? He's tall and he's strong and I think that it's kind of intimidating sometimes. Why?" She asked. Marlene shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean he always seemed…not unstable exactly, but I guess volatile would be a good word for it. He's just not very even-keel and because he's so big it can be kind of scary when he gets pissed." Marlene admitted. Lily agreed with that, personally. "But then how he is with Dany…it's almost like he's a completely different person. It's not like he's on 'good behavior' or whatever, it's like her just being there genuinely changes him; she makes him softer and gentler—kinder, even. It confuses me sometimes. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?" Marlene said and Lily knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah…she's good for him. And he's good for her too, I think. They're changing each other, even if they don't know it. I don't ever remember her being so in the moment and unworried." Lily said thoughtfully as the bathroom door opened.

"I'm going to go run down to the kitchens…you guys want anything?" Marlene asked suddenly and Lily shook her head and Dany declined from where she was walking out of the bathroom, toweling her hair.

"So, Danilynn. Do you feel like a changed woman now that you're no longer one _us_? You know, the Virgin Club." Lily asked teasingly and Dany shrugged.

"Not really. The only thing that's different is that I slept in the boys' room last night. I still feel like the same person." She said and Lily noticed her hickey was gone— _hidden_ was more like it.

"Did it really hurt that much?" She asked, unable to help herself.

"It hurt, but not unbearably. It's not going to take you out, Lils. You'll survive, I promise." She said, leaned up against the doorframe of their bathroom.

"Was it worth it?" Lily asked. Dany smiled, giving her a silent answer.

* * *

James walked back into his room and saw that Sirius had finally decided to wake up, judging by the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. It had been weird that he hadn't gotten up to go running with Dany but had dismissed it, assuming that they had opted for a day off. James noticed that something was different about Sirius' bed now that the curtains were pulled back and in broad daylight: it looked like someone had gotten out of bed on both sides. James took a closer look at his friend's bed, as if he was looking for evidence to deny his suspicions.

Unfortunately, he only found confirmation: there was long, silver hair on the pillows. Dany had been in here last night. All of the boys kept silencing charms on their beds, so their snoring or sleep talking didn't wake anyone else up, but James hadn't considered that the charms would also be keeping him oblivious to the fact that his Godsister had been in her boyfriend's bed last night. Sirius walked out of the bathroom, obviously having just showered.

"Hey, Prongs." He said and James raised an eyebrow accusingly at him.

"Have a good night?" He asked and Sirius raised an eyebrow back at him.

"Yeah, I guess…why?"

"Just curious…it looked like you were pretty restless last night and you slept pretty late." He said and Sirius' eyes flicked to his bed. James didn't miss that his eyes widened once he realized that it was very obvious that he hadn't been alone last night. "So tell me Sirius, was I in here when you were taking my Godsister's virginity?" He asked and Sirius looked rather uncomfortable with that question.

"That depends on when you were in here." He said and James fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was so unabashed about sleeping with girls and James didn't want to hear about what Dany had said as Sirius touched parts of her that James didn't want to think about—in terms of his Godsister at least.

"I came in at about eleven last night." He said and Sirius shook his head.

"We were probably both asleep by then; talking maybe, but the sex was definitely over by eleven." He said with a shrug and pulled a shirt on.

"She stayed the night? You _talked_?" He asked disbelievingly, wondering if he was hearing correctly.

"Yeah…is that a problem?"

"No, no problem…so you two, um, slept together in _your_ bed, then talked, and then she slept here. All night. My virginal Godsister." Sirius nodded. "That's four commandments gone right there, mate." James grinned and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Way more than four, mate. _Way_ more than four. And I still don't think that God would appreciate the Ten Commandments jokes." He said before waving his wand to make his bed.

"Well I haven't been struck down yet. How many, if not four?" He asked disbelievingly. Sirius had _never_ broken any of the rules he had set himself, except he had broken plenty last night.

"Seven." He said and James said nothing. "What?"

"What's left? Actually, do I want to know this?" He asked and Sirius shrugged.

"Borrowing clothes and friends first, except I don't know if that one counts, and obviously there's Valentine's Day. The timing is clearly _very_ wrong for that one." He said thoughtfully. James was shocked to say the least. Dany had managed to unknowingly get him to throw out years' worth of habits in a single night.

"So I don't want to hear any more about this except for one thing." James said, realizing that he was obliged to ask what brothers and fathers ask different versions of in all situations: did you treat her well?

"And what's that, James?" Sirius asked dryly. It was obvious he was becoming very done with this conversation.

"You didn't do that five-minute, half-hearted, no-meaning, impersonal shit that you usually do, did you?" He said and, much to his relief, Sirius shook his head.

"No, I didn't. I love her and I tried to make her as happy as I could, if you must know." He said and James clapped his hands over his ears.

"La-la-la-la! I'm hearing too much. Too much. She's like six in my world. Just a one word answer would have been enough." James said loudly as Sirius laughed at him. James seriously didn't want to think about his best friend…taking his time with a girl that James remembered in pigtails.

"You asked, mate."

* * *

The Charms practical was on a Monday afternoon and Dany spent pretty much the entire the night before having a meltdown because she was definitely going to fail the practical—even though she knew the theory inside and out. She was awful at Charms and everyone knew it and no one tried to tell her otherwise because if they had she would have just started shouting at them about how they were lying to make her feel better (James had learned this the hard way and had promptly told all of their friends so they didn't make the same mistake).

"Dany, love you're going to be fine." Sirius said to her as they waited to go into Flitwick's class for their practical. "The exam isn't going to kill you, I promise. No matter what happens, you're going to walk out of the room in one piece." He said soothingly as they all sat around the floor of the corridor. She nodded a little.

"What if I fail? What if I just forget how to do magic?" She asked, completely beyond the point of reasonable questions. The only thing she could think about was how her brother had gotten ten OWLs—all O's—when he had taken his—as had both of her parents. She was going to be the one to break tradition.

"You're not going to forget how to do magic. If _you_ can't do magic, we're all fucked." Sirius said. "You need to calm down." She nodded a little.

"Sirius Orion Black." Professor Flitwick said from the door to his class. Sirius stood up and kissed Dany quickly.

"Love you." He murmured.

"Love you too. Good luck." She whispered and he left. She wouldn't see him again until after her exam as they left through another door to prevent cheating. Dany wasn't stupid enough to go near Lily—who was an inch away from insanity—so she just sat on the ground, trying to think through the spells she had been drilling into her head almost nonstop for the last month. Dany smiled a little at Lily when she went back and then Frank and then Remus. She was next. She was right after Remus alphabetically in their year.

"Danilynn Charlotte Masters." She stood up and Marlene, James, and Alice—the only ones left from her friend group waved a little and James shouted, "bloody kill it, Dan!" before Flitwick could scold him. Dany walked in and recognized one of the examiners. Amelia Bones. She smiled at her and Amelia smiled back a little, obviously not able to show favoritism. Either way, her presence was a reassurance.

"Danilynn Masters?" One of the examiners asked. Dany nodded. "May we see your wand?" She presented it to him and watched him look it over. "Yes…ten and a half inches, unicorn hair and maple. Unyielding. Is this correct?" Dany nodded. "Well Miss Masters, are you ready for your examination?" Um, no. Not at all. Could her boyfriend or best friend take it for her?

"Of course." She said with a smile, taking her wand back.

"Well, we'll start off slow and work our way up to your most current material, Miss Masters." Dany nodded. They seemed nice. She had heard that the examiners for Potions were nightmares. "If you wouldn't mind levitating this book?" She nodded. That was it? She flicked her wand at the book and it floated above the table it had been placed on. The examiners exchanged looks.

"Verbally, Danilynn." Amelia said with a small smile. Dany felt her face flush. "I understand your parents have emphasized wordless magic to you and your brother—he did the same thing a few years ago—but we need to hear the incantation to ensure that it's actually you performing the spell. Besides, that's a Sixth Year skill." She added and Dany levitated the book again, this time verbally.

"Good, now if you could change the color of this toad?" Another one of the examiners asked, gesturing to the frog on the table in front of her.

"Is there a particular color you're looking for?" She asked.

"Anything you can think of." She said kindly. Dany thought for a minute before turning it bright blue. "And one more time." Dany turned the frog a dark red. "Please enlarge this rat." Dany looked at the rat warily. "We asked for a cuter animal for this one, but were denied." She added and Dany suppressed a smile.

She must have been in there for over half an hour, but it was eventually over.

"You'll be receiving your results this summer, Miss Masters. Congratulations on completing your Charms OWL." One of the examiners said, shaking her hand. "Please exit out the door over to the right."

"Thank you so much." She said and headed for the door, closing it behind her just as she heard Marlene called into the exam room.

"And?" Dany jumped, looking around only to notice that she had walked right by Sirius, who appeared to be waiting for her. "Evans says to tell you that you need to revise for Transfiguration tomorrow." He said and she smiled a little.

"I did everything right. I didn't fuck up at all." She said, letting the words sink into her own brain. "I actually did really well." Sirius grinned and kissed her.

"See? You're brilliant just like the rest of your family and you didn't forget how to do magic. Come on, let's go before McKinnon catches us snogging on her way out." He said and Dany laughed.

"Let's go outside; it's beautiful out and I need fresh air before Lily locks me into a studying hell." Dany said and started to pull him towards the doors out to the Black Lake. "I don't watch enough sunsets." She mused as they sat on the grass. "I see the sunrise every morning, but I don't remember the last time I just sat and watched the sun set." Sirius moved so she was sitting between his legs and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, running his fingers through it a few times.

"There's no time like the present, love." He said. Dany leaned back against Sirius' chest, put her head on his shoulder, and absently played with his fingers as they watched the sun dip below the lake.

"I knew one of the examiners." Dany said as she and Sirius walked back to the common room holding hands.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, the woman with the glasses on the far right. Her name's Amelia Bones—she's Mom's friend. She's from Law Enforcement though; I don't know why she'd be at an exam."

"Maybe so no one goes psycho under all the stress and kills the examiners." Sirius suggested, making Dany laugh. "I could see Evans doing that. She hits her breaking point and just starts throwing curses everywhere."

"My best friend isn't a murderer, Sirius Black." Dany said, despite it seeming more realistic by the day.

" _Lily's_ your best friend? What does that make me?" He asked and she stopped him to wrap her arms around his neck.

"You don't shag your best friend, Sirius. I mean if you really want the title _that_ bad, we can stop—"

"I take it back. She can be your best friend. Boyfriend is the better title anyways." He said and kissed her, making her laugh.

"That's what I thought." She said and they continued walking. "One down. Nine to go." Dany sighed, closing her eyes momentarily as they walked.

"Nine to go." He agreed. "Oh shit." He muttered and Dany looked around for what would have caused that. It was Brady and Kenzie standing in the corridor.

"Is it too late to turn around or have they seen us?" Dany muttered. Just as she said it, they turned to look at them. "Never mind. Too late." She sighed and Sirius adjusted the hold on her hand, lacing their fingers together tighter. "Anyways, what are the odds that Lily's already sent out a search party to find us? We have to be studying _all the time_ , you know." Dany asked, changing the subject. Sirius snorted.

"What time is it? Almost eight? She's probably convinced James to pull out the Map by now to find us. She really needs to stop and calm down every now and then." Sirius commented as they started to approached Brady and Kenzie.

"It's _Lily_. She'll stop when she's dead." Dany said, thinking about her friend.

"Hey, Dan." Brady said. Dany ignored him. "One of my mates said to pass on a message to you. He says thanks for last night." She felt Sirius' hand shift in hers. He knew they were lying as much as she did—they had been together all last night, studying. "I told him that you'd shag him if he paid, but he didn't believe me so thanks for proving me right." He said. Kenzie giggled and Dany looked at him.

"What are you? Twelve? Act like a damn adult for once, Brady—it doesn't hurt, I promise." She sighed, turning back around and following the hand that was gently tugging on hers, asking her to walk away from this.

"Oi, Black—I'd think about getting tested. After all of those blokes, there's no way she's clean. I've been telling anyone I know the same. It's becoming a matter of public health." Brady added and Sirius turned around. His patience was being tested.

"Do you want to go another round, Harris? I'd be more than happy to land you back in St. Mungo's for another couple months." He hissed.

"Please, like I'm supposed to be scared? You're all talk and everyone knows it." Brady snorted and Dany thought that was highly inaccurate. Brady probably should have thought the same.

"I don't know, am I? Let's find out." He snapped and tried to move back towards Brady. Dany started pushing him away.

"Sirius, walk away. Come on, let's go." She said and pushed him away from Brady and Kenzie. "By the way, Brady—I never asked how long it took to clear up the boils in all those unpleasant private parts. How long did you have to go without it, Kenzie?" Dany asked, looking at the other girl. "Wait, I meant to ask how long did you go without it _from him_." She added before walking off, dragging Sirius with her.


	28. Show Me Love, Show Me Love

_Hey! So, we're finishing up OWLs and we all know what's coming (hint, Snape's involved, even though this is one of the first times we've seen him so far)._

 _Anyway, sorry if you don't like smut-like scenes, but they're really just there for comedic relief or plot as we get further and further into the war (this chapter it's comedic relief)_

 _Read and Review!_

 _Love, Essie_

* * *

 **Oh, before I forget, someone asked me if Dany's visions ever go away and if she still has them in Feel Again. So, the answer is that she doesn't have them in Feel Again because (as I said in the chapter they were introduced) they don't last past the early 20s. We haven't seen any of them in a while just because there's been so much more I've wanted to write! Also, I was asked if they've added up the Azkaban vision with Sirius yet and no they haven't. Remember that was almost three years ago for them and teenagers (while not fickle) can be a bit easily distracted.**

* * *

 _Don't let me show cruelty_  
 _Though I may make mistakes_  
 _Don't let me show ugliness_  
 _Though I know I can hate_  
 _And don't let me show evil_  
 _Though it might be all I take_  
 _Show me love_  
 _Show me love_

 _~Show Me Love_ , Hundred Waters

* * *

The next morning, Dany got up to run with Sirius as neither of them was highly concerned about Transfiguration and the exam didn't start until two hours after classes usually started anyways.

"Feeling good about Transfiguration?" Sirius asked as they stopped on the cliff side they always stopped at.

"Yeah, I think so. Obviously you have nothing to worry about, but I'm feeling relatively confident." Dany said, still breathing heavily. Sirius looked over at her and she was surprised to see his eyes stop at her chest. She was in a compression bra and he never gave her body a second look when they were running. "What?"

"Do you know what I've never done, but have always wanted to?" Sirius asked. Dany shook her head, looking at him curiously. "Shag outside." She laughed.

"What? Right now?" She asked and he nodded. "Are you joking? We're going to be late for exams."

"No we won't. It's not even six and they don't start until ten." He said and came over to where she was standing, kissing her gently. "Come on, Dan. You know you want to." She had to admit that the whole sweaty boyfriend thing was pretty hot and the entire situation was tempting. "Get in touch with nature and all that."

"If I find grass inside me when I shower, I'm going to kill you." She said and he grinned. "And make it quick. If I wanted a nice slow shag, I'd ask for one."

"Do you want me to fuck you, beautiful?" He murmured into her neck.

"If that's what you think fits the mood of sex outside while dripping sweat."

"Mm, I really think it does. I really think that fucking like animals sounds good. And appropriate." Sirius reached down and pulled Dany's spandex shorts and panties down to her ankles and brushed a finger against her. "Feels like you like the idea of that too, huh?" She nodded a little as he turned her around and pushed her down onto her hands and knees. She barely had time to arch her back before he started screwing her into the ground.

It was a very new feeling, not being treated gently during sex. Sirius usually touched her gently and said nice things to her while they were shagging, but this was just as welcome as being told she was loved. He was gripping her hips so tightly that there would be bruises tomorrow and Dany was pretty sure she was making noises that she'd never made before in her life.

The main lesson was that shagging outdoors should become a regular thing.

"Hey. How was your run?" Marlene asked when Dany walked back into her room. She felt the blood pool in her cheeks.

"Oh, it was fine. Relaxing." She said. "I'm going to go shower, yeah?" Dany said before her friend could figure out that she and her boyfriend had just been shagging like bunnies on castle grounds.

"Morning, love." Dany said as Sirius sat next to her and kissed her quickly.

"Morning. Pass the pumpkin juice, won't you?" He asked. She handed it to him and went back to breakfast.

"Hey, Dan." James said.

"Yeah?"

"We were wondering if you could tell us how Sirius hurt his knees." James grinned. Dany raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your knees?" She asked Sirius. He pointed down to his knees, which had a few deep indents on them; Dany knew what had happened immediately. He had apparently been kneeling on pebbles or something while they had been shagging and they had left marks.

"He said it happened on your run." Remus said. Dany shrugged.

"Don't know. Maybe he sat weird when we stopped to take a break." She fibbed, although that wasn't actually a lie. "Pass the butter, Lils." She said, changing the line of conversation quickly.

* * *

"Coming outside?" Sirius asked Dany as they left their Defense written OWL.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a bit. I need to return a book to the library. Pince has been after me for weeks to get it back to her before the year ends. I'll meet you all out there." She said and he nodded, kissing her goodbye before following his mates outside. Dany uneventfully dropped her book off and started to make her way towards the grounds. She walked outside, saw the group of people, and knew what was happening. Sirius and James were tormenting Snape—not like Dany had a real issue with it, but Lily was about to come storming over in 3…2…"PUT HIM DOWN!" Now. Dany made eye contact with Sirius and mouthed 'put him down' at him and nodded towards Lily. He dropped Snape, breaking the spell, probably realizing that he was going to lose body parts if he didn't.

Then it happened.

"…Go out with me, Evans."

James had been doing so well. He had been so good for the last _year_ , but he had just ruined it. Dany groaned and left to go get Marlene and Alice to defuse this.

When she came back with reinforcements, she heard it. Mudblood. People gasped, James went to hex Snape, but Remus pulled his hand down. Dany vaguely heard him say, "I think you're going to have to take a number". That was really the last thing Dany heard before she was trying to physically claw Severus Snape's eyes out of his head. Sirius picked her up and pulled her off him as she continued to try and hit him in every place she could reach.

"Enough, Dany. Lily needs you, love." He murmured in her ear as she tried to wiggle free from his grasp. She stopped struggling and saw Lily walking away quickly. Then she saw Snape, where she had attempted to murder him. His nose was broken in the very least and her nails had cut open one of his cheeks. Sirius hadn't let her get very far with her murder. Dany nodded a little and Sirius slowly let go of her. "Go talk to her, yeah? We'll deal with him." She nodded again, but something stopped her from running after Lily.

" _What has happened_?!" McGonagall. "Who did this to this boy?" She demanded, practically fuming.

"Professor, it was—" Dany started to say.

"It was me." James and Sirius said at the same time. "Both of us, really." They said simultaneously. Sirius gave Dany a small nudge towards the castle. She nodded and ran off in search of her friend.

"Lily! Lils!" She shouted and Lily stopped at the end of the corridor. She—unsurprisingly—was crying. "Oh, Lily." She sighed and wrapped her arms around the redhead. "I'm sorry." She whispered and Lily hugged her back before crying into her shoulder.

"I thought he was my friend." She sniffled and Dany stroked her hair gently.

"I know you did, sweetie. I think—a long time ago—that he was, but he's changed and you know it. That's not your friend out there; he's gone." Dany said gently, trying to ease some of her pain. "I don't know where he went, but that's not him." Lily nodded a little.

"You tried to kill him."

"Actually, I only tried to claw his eyes out—it's a fine distinction that's lost on many." Dany said and Lily tried not to smile. "You would have done the same for me." She added much softer and wiped a couple tears off her friend's face.

"I know. We're so overdramatic." She said with a watery smile. "I can't believe Sirius of all people stopped someone from beating Snape up." Dany smiled.

"How the tables have turned, right?" Lily nodded. "You don't need him, Lils—and you certainly don't need to be caught up in all of his Dark Arts and Death Eater shit." Dany said and Lily nodded again. "Come on, why don't we get you set up in the room and I'll run down to the kitchens and get you some ice cream?"

"Rocky Road?" She sniffed.

"Is there any other kind?" Dany asked, keeping an arm around her best friend as they headed towards their room.

Lily fell asleep with her face practically in the ice cream and Dany left Alice and Marlene with instructions to take good care of her in Dany's absence. As Lily was her best friend, this emotional crisis fell to Dany to handle 24/7 (that included the long talks and holding her when she cried at 2 in the morning), but she had something to set straight.

"Professor McGonagall?" She asked quietly, looking inside the professor's open office door.

"Masters. What can I do for you?" She asked briskly.

"It's about today, actually. With Severus Snape." She said.

"I'm aware of what happened and rest assured that we won't be seeing that kind of violence again." She said.

"What did James and Sirius tell you about what happened?" She asked quietly, closing the door behind her.

"Those two enjoy jokes too much and sometimes they take them too far and that's all you need to know about that."

"They didn't do it, ma'am." She said. "I did." McGonagall actually was shocked into momentary silence. Dany took this time to explain herself. "Well, at first they were teasing him, but it was nothing serious and Lily told them to stop. She _is_ a Prefect, after all. That's when he called her…a mudblood." McGonagall raised an eyebrow but otherwise wasn't showing signs of life.

Dany kept going before her professor regained memory of how to speak and expelled her on the spot.

"Sirius pulled me off him and told me to go find Lily because she had run off in tears." Dany said. "I wanted to come down and set things straight, but she really needed me so I waited until she fell asleep with her face in a half-gallon of Rocky Road ice cream—which is where she is right now. The point is that it wasn't them. They took the fall for me when they shouldn't have and I'm taking responsibility for what I did. James and Sirius shouldn't be punished for something they didn't do."

"Take a seat." Dany sat. "He called Miss Evans a mudblood."

"Yes, ma'am."

"So you attempted to kill him."

"I was actually just planning on clawing his eyes out with my nails, but that was the general gist." She said, not really going for any more excuses.

"Have a biscuit, Masters." Dany felt her mouth drop open.

"I— _what_?" She said and McGonagall gestured towards biscuits on her desk.

"Go on." She said and Dany took one. "It would have been easier to let them take the blame for you, but you didn't. That—in a way—epitomizes our house." Dany wasn't feeling particularly representative of Gryffindor at the moment.

"Am I being expelled?" She asked and she shook her head.

"No, you're not being expelled. However, you cannot go unpunished for this—violence within Hogwarts will not be tolerated."

"I expected as much when I came down to speak with you."

"As there is such little time left in the year, I cannot give you extensive detention as I normally would. Instead, you will serve two nights of detention with me after your OWLs and you will write a letter home to your parents explaining what exactly happened. I want a reply from _both_ of them acknowledging that they received it." Dany winced. That wasn't going to be pretty. McGonagall knew that her father would let this slide, so she was requiring her mother to be involved.

"You're sure you can't just give me detention for _next_ year?" She asked and McGonagall almost smiled.

"I'm sure, Masters. Thank you for speaking to me and being honest. See me after your last OWL for more about your detention and I want that letter written within the week." She said and Dany nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. May I go?" She asked and McGonagall nodded.

"Let Black and Potter know that they no longer will be facing disciplinary action from the Board of Governors, won't you?" Dany nodded and stood up to leave. "Masters. Ten points to Gryffindor for integrity and honor." She said with a small smile and Dany nodded before leaving and heading for the common room. When she walked in, she headed for the boys' room. She walked in without knocking and Sirius and James looked up and grinned.

"Ah, I've wanted to hit Snape like that for years. Honestly, Dan—you're my new hero." James said. Sirius got up and kissed his girlfriend.

"How's Lily?"

"Sleeping with her face in a tub of ice cream under Marlene and Alice's watchful eyes." She said. "I just came from McGonagall's office." She added and everyone looked up.

"You what?" James asked as if he was quite certain that he had heard wrong.

"You're no longer facing disciplinary action from the Board of Governors, so don't write home about it." She said and they both looked at her like she was mental.

"What did you do, Dan?" Sirius asked, deadly serious.

"I told her that it was me that did the number on Snape and that you two shouldn't be taking the fall for something you didn't do." She said.

"Why the hell would you do that?" James asked.

"Because it was the right thing to do. Besides, I don't have a track record like you two. You two were facing expulsion, but I got off with two detentions and a letter home. She also gave me a biscuit, but that's beside the point."

"She gave you a _biscuit_?" James asked skeptically.

"Yeah, but the point is you're not being expelled or suspended. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write my parents explaining that I tried to kill another student." She added, leaving, not in the mood for James' self-sacrificing attitude or for Sirius trying to snog her into agreeing that she shouldn't have told McGonagall.

She peeked into her own dorm and saw that Lily was still sleeping. Dany quickly explained what had happened to Marlene and Alice and they both smiled and told her it was the right thing to do. She grabbed some parchment and went down into the common room to write her letter.

* * *

Sirius waited a few hours before trying to find Dany. He really needed to talk to her—not to mention he was a bit wary of the repercussions of publically beating the shit out of a Slytherin—even an unpopular one. He found her in the common room, practically passed out with her head resting on the table she was sitting at. He slowly walked down and realized that she had fallen asleep writing to her parents. Unable to help himself, he read the letter. Actually, there were two of them. The first was in a beautiful calligraphy. Pretty. Formal. Distant.

 _Mom and Dad,_

 _I wish I was writing to you about something cheerier, but Professor McGonagall told me I had to write to you as part of the punishment for hitting another student._

 _Unfortunately, you read that correctly. We had all just finished one of our OWLs and everyone was outside and I heard Snape call Lily a you-know-what and I hit him. I really shouldn't have done it, but I did._

 _Professor McGonagall wants a response sent to her signed by both of you before the school year ends so she knows I actually wrote you. Maybe put it on some fancy parchment or something so she knows I'm not faking._

 _Dany_

Sirius put it down gently next to her head and picked up the other one. He realized that he shouldn't be reading this one, as the writing more of the scrawl that Dany passed notes in than it was the calligraphy of the other letter. It looked much less formal. Warmer. He read it anyways, like the idiot he was.

 _Daddy,_

 _So you probably just read my letter to you and Mom and yeah, I know it's less than impressive. I didn't want to tell Mom because she'd probably be worried, but when I hit Snape, I didn't just hit him once. Sirius had to pull me off of him because I was trying to claw his eyes out of his head. I don't even know what happened—I just snapped. Honestly, I'm kind of scared of myself because I_ wanted _him to suffer for what he said and I don't think that's normal at all._

 _I think I got off so lightly because Sirius and James tried to take the blame for me so I could go after Lily and calm her down, but I went back to her office once Lily was asleep to tell her the truth. I have two detentions after OWLs are over on Friday and other than the letter, that's it. Also, did you know that she keeps biscuits in her office? She offered me one and then gave me ten points for 'integrity and honesty' so I think she was just punishing me more out of obligation than anything else._

 _Anyways, I hope you're staying safe and I can't wait to come home and see you because I love the castle and everyone in it, but I miss you so much when I'm here._

 _All my love, Dany_

"Sirius Black, you nosy man." A voice whispered from where he was reading. He jumped and realized that it was Dany, who appeared to be waking up.

"Shit, I'm sorry, love—I didn't—"

"It's fine. Just remind me to send them tomorrow. What time is it?"

"About eleven." She nodded, blearily propping her head up with a hand.

"M'kay…can I stay with you tonight? I haven't been sleeping very well and maybe a change in scenery will help." She mumbled, obviously growing tired again.

"Of course you can. Why don't you Floo those letters to your parents and then I'll take you upstairs?" He said gently and she nodded, but didn't move. "Do you want me to send them?" She nodded.

"Please. Send them both to my dad. He'll be in his office at work still." She said and Sirius took them from her, folded them and placed both in the fireplace.

"Minister of Magic's office." He murmured and they vanished in green flames.

"Thanks." She said with a tired smile.

"Come on, Dan. You look exhausted." He said and she easily hopped up on his back so he was giving her a piggyback ride.

"So exhausted." She agreed, resting her chin on his shoulder. He pushed their door open and James was just getting into bed.

"No shagging, please." He said before getting into bed and turning his light off. Sirius put Dany down in his bed and realized that she was still in her school uniform. She pulled her tie off and kicked her shoes off down next to his trunk and let her hair down.

"Dan, do you want something to sleep in? I can't imagine a skirt being super comfortable." He said and she looked down at her clothes and shrugged.

"If you can get up the girls' stairs, be my guest to get me something. If not, this is fine." She said, unrolling the sleeves of her shirt.

"Do you want something of mine?" She paused and looked up from her shirtsleeves. He hadn't ever offered her clothing before. Hell, he hadn't offered _anyone_ clothing before. And she knew it.

"I—I'll take anything you give me." She said, rubbing her eyes. He dug through his trunk and found a loved and faded Rolling Stones t-shirt and handed it to her. She smiled and took it. "Thanks." She said, pulling her shirt and skirt off before shoving it on and somehow pulling her bra off through one of the armholes. Sirius stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed, pulling her under the covers with him. She turned on her side and he got the point that she wanted to be spooned. Because that was one of two ways she liked to sleep. The other involved her lying on his chest.

"We're skipping running tomorrow." He muttered and she hummed in agreement, wiggling around so she was pressed up against him as much as possible.

Sirius had to admit that he liked having her here, curled up next to him where he could hold her. When they were like this, he noticed how small she was, her head resting under his chin. Her height was balanced out by her personality when she was awake and he couldn't care less about height during sex, but like this, she seemed every bit 5 foot 2—which was tiny compared to 6 foot 4. He wrapped an arm around her waist and heard her sigh contentedly before falling asleep.

"Padfoot." Someone whispered. "Padfoot. Sirius." Sirius opened his eyes to see that it was still dark out. He felt Dany's body pressed up against him, moving slowly with her deep breathing under his arm. She was sleeping. It hadn't been her saying his name. Sirius looked up and saw it was James.

"James? What the fuck are you doing up?" He hissed, trying to keep his voice down for the girl sleeping in his arms.

"I had to piss, but then I saw this on my way back from the toilet and couldn't resist." He grinned. Sirius moved the hand he had on Dany's waist to flip him off, but once James started snickering, Dany stirred slightly. She took the hand that was flipping James off and intertwined her fingers with his before pulling it back down to her waist, making a little noise in her sleep, still holding his hand, and snuggling closer to him, if that was possible. "How sweet." James whispered.

"Shut up. Things with Lily just backtracked about three _years_ today." James scowled. "Go back to bed, Prongs. And close the curtains."

Sirius woke up to his alarm going off at five—he had forgotten to change it to account for the fact that he wasn't going running—and promptly turned it off. Dany started to stir at the noise and soon looked back at him, propping herself up on an elbow to do so.

"Morning." She said groggily and Sirius decided that her voice when she'd just woken up was the cutest thing he'd ever heard.

…And now he was turning into a teenage girl on the inside.

"Morning, beautiful." He said and kissed her gently.

"Potions today." She said and he nodded.

"I know. We're almost done though. Only three left after today." Sirius said and she nodded.

"Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, and History of Magic." She said and Sirius nodded, running a hand through her hair.

"Mhm. We're almost there, love." He said and she smiled a little.

"I couldn't have done exams without you, honestly. I would've lost my mind sometime last week." She said and Sirius smiled at her a little.

"Glad I can help." He said and she kissed him.

"Do you think we have time for an early morning shag? For good luck." She whispered and he grinned, fumbling for his wand, casting silencing charms.

"I reckon so. We should probably be quiet though—just in case the silencing charms aren't perfect." He said and she nodded, lying back in her original position so he was still spooning her. He felt her reach down and pull her panties off and he reached down and tugged his boxers down as well before slipping his hand up the front of the shirt she was in. He felt her grab his hand and move it so it was between her legs. Well, at least she knew what she wanted.

He carefully pushed into her, making her breathe shakily and deeply—obviously trying to keep it quiet. She moved his hand back to her chest, silently telling him what she wanted from him. He kissed her neck and started to slowly move in and out of her, the only sounds really being their heavy breathing and occasionally a whisper of nothing in particular into Dany's ear. Dany climaxed just before Sirius, who came happily, deep inside of his girlfriend.

Dany turned her head and smiled at him, kissing him slowly—lovingly even—as he felt her inner muscles flutter around him.

"I love you so much." She murmured, tracing his jawline. "I don't know how I went so long without you."

"You've had me for a really long time, Dan—you just didn't know it for a while." He whispered back. She smiled a little, kissing him again.

"Yeah, but I don't know how I went so long without _this_ —without having to worry about being platonic all the time." She whispered, obviously searching his face for something.

"I wasn't platonic all the time—lucky for me, you were just really oblivious." He whispered back and she smiled, laughing a little. "So, so oblivious. Everyone knew but you." He whispered and she kissed him again, twisting her back to do so. Suddenly, someone pulled the curtains open. It was Remus.

"Wake up, lovebirds. Don't make me pull those covers off you." He said.

"You don't want to do that Moony." Sirius said and he raised an eyebrow. "We just finished shagging and we're both naked from the waist down." He added and Remus shut the curtains so quickly it was comical. Dany's face flushed bright red and Sirius started laughing at the sudden outburst of "they're _what?!"_ from James. Sirius reluctantly pulled out of her and they both reached down to pull their underwear on. Dany peeked her head out of the curtains.

"Hi, James." Sirius heard her say sheepishly. Sirius opened the curtains all the way and James looked mortified. "We're both dressed now, if that makes it better." She added and James shook his head.

"No, that does not 'make it better'! Jesus, Danilynn put some real clothes on." James said and Dany got out of bed and started looking for her clothes. She found her uniform and looked around for somewhere to change. "Bathroom's over there." Dany vanished quickly and James glared at Sirius. "You're joking, right?"

"Okay, she asked to stay here because she's been having trouble sleeping and it just kind of…turned into sex this morning." Sirius said and James made a face. "Stop sending Remus in unannounced if you don't want to have this problem." He added as Dany walked out of the bathroom. Everyone in the room busied themselves with something else as she tried to straighten out her hair.

"At least my walk of shame is short." She joked to Sirius as she put her shoes on. "Thanks for the bed. And the shirt." She said as she located her tie. "And the shag." She added loudly glancing over at James, who gagged. Sirius laughed.

"No problem on all accounts and you can keep it if you want it. I never wear it anymore." She smiled briefly and kissed his cheek before heading for the door.

"Bye, James. I'll be sure to shower before breakfast." She sang at him before leaving. Remus, James, and Frank all looked over at him.

"Did you just give her—?" James trailed off.

"Shut up. Only Quidditch shirts count." He said, heading for the shower.

Sirius noticed that when they all walked to breakfast, James couldn't quite meet Dany's eye and Sirius had to suppress a smile at that. For his part, he sat down next to his girlfriend, kissed her good morning and started in on his porridge as everyone talked about the upcoming written exam in only a few hours. Suddenly, the mail arrived. Sort of. Almost no one was getting mail these days because of OWLs and other exams, but Sirius watched an owl land in front of McGonagall—he recognized Dany's family owl—and another in front of Dany. The one in front of her was a Ministry owl. She nervously untied the letter before it flew off. She read the front of the envelope and Sirius recognized Daniel's handwriting. At least it wasn't a Howler or a notice that one of her parents was dead or something. Dany read with a terrorized look on her face. She silently handed it to Sirius.

 _Dany,_

 _First of all, look completely petrified with fear the entire time you read this. You're good at acting—you'll do fine. Now, your mother and I talked about what happened and decided that although we don't condone violence whatsoever, we understand your anger and you won't be punished at home for it—despite not agreeing with its…shall we call it manifestation? Now, if Professor McGonagall asks, your mother and I are deeply horrified by this completely out-of-character outburst and you're going to be punished accordingly over summer (that's why you're supposed to look terrified)._

 _I can't wait to see you, sweetheart and don't forget to kick ass on your OWLs!_

 _All my love, Dad_

 _PS—Sirius, I know you're reading this, so you better be treating my baby right_

Sirius tried to look mortified too, but he didn't think he was doing nearly as good of a job as Dany had. He was having a hard time getting over the fact her dad signed letters the same way she did to him: all my love. It was pretty damn cute.

"I love your dad so much sometimes." Sirius sighed and handed it back to her. "Between this and the time he wrote to tell McGonagall that it's perfectly normal for you to be 'going through a sexual awakening', he's becoming my personal hero."

"Hey, get your own hero. He's mine." Dany said, stowing the letter in her bag. Sirius glanced over at McGonagall, who looked satisfied with the letter she was reading—he suspected that Rhea and Daniel had both written the letter and had sent the family owl as further proof that it was indeed from them.

"I'm just saying though: you have a kick ass personal hero." He commented and she smiled a little. She obviously knew just how kick ass her father was and was proud as hell of him.

* * *

"We're done!" Dany laughed, practically launching into his arms at the end of the History of Magic exam. "We're actually done." She said, kissing him. "We fucking did it." She said, much quieter.

"We did it. Now all we can do is wait, huh?" She nodded.

"Yeah. Or I could go serve detention with McGonagall tonight." She sighed. "I'm going to head to her office now and see what she has planned. Probably lines. 'I won't beat the shit out of people who deserve it'." Sirius kissed her nose.

"Sounds fun. How about when you finish detention, we have a nice night in and do nothing?" He asked and she nodded, grinning.

"That sounds fantastic. I'll just go to your room when I'm done?" She asked and he nodded.

"Obviously."

"I'll see you there." She said and walked off towards McGonagall's office.

Dany apparently was just sent straight into detention because Sirius didn't see her again for the next few hours.

"Hey, Frank?" Sirius asked. They were the only ones in the room. Sirius had checked for this conversation. Frank looked up.

"What? What's going on?" He asked.

"You're dating Alice."

"It would seem that way. Why?" He asked warily.

"Do you think you're going to marry her?" Frank choked.

"Are you going to try and marry Dany?" He sputtered.

"Holy shit, no. I'm not getting married at sixteen, thanks." He said and Frank relaxed. "I mean can you see yourself having a future with her?" He slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I reckon so. I'd like to have one with her—I've thought about it before. You're starting to think about it too, huh?" He asked, smiling a little.

"Mhm. I didn't think about it until this morning—"

"Please don't tell me what you think about when you shag."

"After the History of Magic exam, you twit." Frank nodded knowingly.

"I thought about it for the first time during Herbology, if that makes you feel better. All of a sudden I had this crazy mental image of her in a wedding dress." Frank said and Sirius nodded. "It's normal, mate—it's called love and commitment." Just as he said this, Dany walked in. "Hey, Dan. Would you happen to have the time?"

"It's about seven, I think." She said and he nodded.

"I'm supposed to meet Alice soon. Have a good night, you two." He said and smiled at Dany on his way out.

"Bye, Frank." She called out the door before closing it behind her.

"How was detention?" Sirius asked and she shrugged.

"Dirty. She had me repot plants for Professor Sprout for almost five hours. Do you know how heavy potted fanged geraniums are?" She groaned, stretching her back. "Besides, I don't exactly weightlift on a regular basis." She added, flopping down onto his bed.

"Did you shower?" He asked, noticing that her hair smelled oddly good for having just come from five hours in the greenhouse.

"Mhm. I had potting soil and fertilizer all over me. Besides, I thought the hot water might help my poor muscles. It didn't." She said, closing her eyes. "How you deal with Quidditch all the time is beyond me." Sirius actually had to agree with her on that one.

"Have you eaten?" She shook her head.

"Can't say I have. You?"

"Nope. I can go down to the Kitchens if you don't want to move." He offered. She smiled gratefully.

"I love you so much." She said. "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute. Wake me up for food." He nodded and kissed her quickly before leaving.

Weirdly, he found Severus Snape outside the portrait hole.

"Snape. Not that I really care about you, but why are you standing outside of my common room?" He asked pointedly.

"I need to talk to Lily, Black." He said and Sirius shrugged.

"So you can degrade and insult her? Sure, let me go get her, you twat." Sirius snapped, not in the mood. He had a tired and hungry girlfriend in his bed that he wanted to get back to.

"I'll sleep out here if I have to." He said desperately and while Sirius did actually feel a bit bad for him—he knew what it was like to be solidly friend zoned by the girl you loved—he wasn't going to go get Lily just so Snape could upset her.

"Go ahead. I care much more about Lily than I do about what the floors do to your back." He said with a shrug. Sirius walked off, leaving a shocked Slytherin in his wake—as he probably didn't know that Lily and Sirius had that strange relationship between platonic friends that resembled having the sibling you never wanted.

When Sirius came back with food from the house elves, Snape was still there.

"Threaten me all you want, but I'm not leaving." He said and Sirius shrugged.

"Yet again, I don't care what you do as long as it doesn't impact the people I care about. Now, if you'll excuse me." He added and the Fat Lady looked over at Snape disapprovingly. "Want to just let me in so I don't have to say the password in front of him?" He asked her and she nodded—to his surprise—letting Sirius in and quickly closing behind him. He walked upstairs and saw that Dany was sleeping exactly where Sirius had left her. He gently shook her awake. "Dany, love. Come on, I have food." He tempted and her eyes fluttered open.

"Did you bring cake?" She asked with a small smile. He laughed.

"No, but I brought ice cream." He said. "And the house elves send their love and actual food." She sat up as he handed her the roast beef sandwich the elves had given him for her.

"Thanks." She yawned, sitting up and leaning against his pillows.

"Snape's outside the common room." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. He wanted me to go get Lily—or to let him into the common room. I told him to piss off and he threatened to sleep out there." He said and she nodded.

"And?"

"And I told him I care more about Lily than his back and he was more than welcome to a nice patch of stone floor." He said.

"Good. Lily doesn't need to be bothered with a twat like him. She's just now starting to feel better about that entire situation." Dany said, leaning on his shoulder as they both ate. "He's lucky I don't walk out there and give him a black eye to match that broken nose and claw marks." She muttered.

"That's probably not the best idea. You got off light because you're usually pretty good, but twice in a week? Forget it." He said. "As much as beating him up sounds like fun, let's not." She nodded.

"I know—besides, if I tried to walk that far, my muscles would probably all lock up and send me down the stairs on my ass." She said.

"It's really that bad?"

"She's going to have to give me lines tomorrow because I'm going to injure myself if I have to do that again." She said before munching on her sandwich.

"Where's sore?"

"My back and arms mainly, but my hamstrings will probably be feeling it tomorrow." She said, rolling her neck a bit.

"You know, I have this girlfriend—" She raised an eyebrow, "—that does this wonderful thing for me after Quidditch practice—" She knew what he was talking about and put her food down to sit between his legs, eagerly asking for a backrub.

"Shirt on or shirt off?" She asked. He usually took his shirt off, but that wasn't such a big deal for James to walk in on.

"Whichever you want. If you want your shirt off though, we should probably close the curtains a bit." He said and she nodded, pulling her shirt over her head, leaving her creamy back exposed, along with her purple bra—before she closed the curtains and flicked her wand to fill the little room that the curtains created with light—that blissfully wouldn't cast shadows outside the curtains. She settled back down between his legs and moved her hair to the side before pulling off her bra and tossing it to the foot of the bed.

Sirius discovered very quickly that Dany's back was actually a highly erogenous area as she was making sounds that had more to do with sex than relaxation, although she told him to be quiet and keep doing whatever it was he was doing when he asked if it was helping.

Sirius didn't really care about the no talking request as he was actually quite enjoying looking at her back, looking for the little details he'd never noticed before, like how she actually had wisps of hair that grew at the very bottom of her hairline and how dimples appeared on her lower back when she pressed into his hands and how her shoulder blades shifted under her skin as he touched her. Not long after he noticed the wisps of hair, he realized that she was relying on his hands to hold her up because she was making absolutely no effort to prevent her from falling backwards. It was like a sexed-up version of a trust exercise.

"You okay, Dan?"

"Mhm. I'm wonderful." She murmured. "I feel so much better." She sighed as Sirius carefully removed his hands from her, letting her adjust to holding herself up. She reached forwards and grabbed her bra and shirt before turning around to face him. "Thank you." He kissed her and opened the curtains as she killed the little ball of light.

"No problem. I owe you quite a few of those." He said and she laughed as she scooted back and leaned against his chest, still between his legs, arms resting on his bent knees. "Ice cream?"

"Ice cream." She agreed, taking the spoon he offered her along with the ice cream itself, figuring that he'd end up eating over her shoulder anyways. "Cookie dough. Ah, you know me so well." She laughed before popping the lid off and helping herself. "Try not to get any in my hair, if you don't mind."

"I'll do my best." Sirius chuckled. Halfway through the ice cream, James walked in and wrinkled his nose.

"You two make me nauseous sometimes—have I ever told you?" He said and Dany shrugged.

"I don't really care. I have ice cream and a cute boyfriend. I'm happy and there's nothing you can do about it, James." She said and James rolled his eyes.

"What about you, Padfoot?"

"I don't really care either. Besides, would you rather see this or have to listen to both of us whine about each other like we did for _years_?" He asked and James looked sickened by the mention of that time in his life.

"I take it back. Enjoy your ice cream. I just came in for the cloak." He said and vanished out the door with his invisibility cloak.

"Do you have the Map?" Dany asked.

"Mhm."

"Do you want to watch where they're going?"

"Obviously." He said and handed it to her, opening it first, as she didn't have a free hand to do it herself. The spent the next few hours watching Remus and James float about the castle under the cloak and making theories about what they were doing. They were either just exploring the castle or setting up an elaborate prank.

Probably a prank, but that didn't stop Dany from hypothesizing that they were actually lovers and from Sirius suggesting that they had gotten quite lost on their way to a meeting with the occult.


End file.
